Everyone who plays golf knows what a brilliant and enjoyable sport it is.

However, ever felt like, as a golfer, you have an obligation to pass down your love of the sport to the next generation? You’re certainly not alone. Getting kids into golf can be a real challenge, but knowing how to do so could be vital for the future popularity of our much-loved game.

If anyone knows how to get kids into golf from a young age, it’s Aaron Cox. In 2022, Aaron won Participation and Development Coach of the Year at the England Golf Awards for his incredible work with junior golfers.

When he started as an assistant at Blackwell Grange Golf Club in the North East, he energised the whole club, building a six-hole academy course and getting a huge number of juniors to take up the game. Now, he teaches as many as 80 kids a week.

Below, he explains how to get kids into golf, and talks us through some of the work he has done with children through his junior academy, ACED Academy.

How to get kids into golf

When can kids start to play golf?

The age of around six and onwards is a great time to start getting kids into golf. In fact, nearly half of my academy is between six and eight.

When a kid around this age comes to one of my classes, they’ll learn the main fundamentals of the game. My four main fundamentals are GASP: Grip, Aim, Stance and Posture.

Then, we’ll start practising with some real golf balls. Often, when you go into schools, they only play with plastic balls, but as soon as you go to a real golf club, there’s none of that. I think the best way to learn golf is to hit proper balls from the start.

How hard is golf for young kids?

I’ll always try to make golf fun and play along with them in sessions. We play games on the putting and chipping greens, and I’m quite lucky as I also have a six-hole course. So, kids can start learning to play golf from a very early age and from very early on in the process. I get them out on the kids’ course and get them to hit shots. Even if they can barely hit the ball 20 metres yet, they still get out there and play holes, which is great.

However, many kids find hitting balls on the range a bit boring, so that can be a challenge. It’s particularly hard in the winter as the range is all we can really do, so I’ll try to incentivise sessions around Christmas (and Easter) with chocolate!

I work hard to keep kids engaged in golf throughout the winter. We’ll work primarily on technique during this time and then get out on the course in the summer. We hardly spend any time at the range in the summer because I’d rather they were out playing!

When should parents buy golf clubs for their children?

I normally tell parents who come to my academy to wait until their kids have played golf for at least 12 weeks before investing in any proper gear.

We’ve got all the golf clubs for kids to use and try out for that initial period—irons, wedges, putters, drivers, and so on—so I’ll tell parents not to buy any themselves until around that 12-week point.

If the kids are still engaged and enjoying it after 12 weeks, then that’s a good time to consider buying some clubs.

Why do group golf lessons work well for kids?

Groups are important because golf can be a selfish sport. Yes, it’s a one-person sport, but I want the kids to learn and make good friendships as they do so.

I’ve got some kids in my classes who have been together now for three years and have become best friends through golf. They all get to play together, their parents also get to know each other, and all of a sudden, you’ve got a nice mix of things going on.  

Tell us about one of your career success stories…

We have a ‘Ryder Cup’ every year, which is really fun.

We have eight tournaments a year throughout the season, from March to October, and the top 24 kids on the ‘Order of Merit’ qualify for the following year’s matches. I pick two captains and get them to pick their own teams. Then, they play a Ryder Cup-style tournament.

They get shirts and caps with the European and American logos, and I put flags and bunting down the side of the course—half European, half American.

The kids and parents dress up for the occasion, and we play for a real trophy.

By the end, you have three or four kids walking together with a massive flag around them, egging their mates on, and you’ll have 40 people sitting around the last green.

It’s excellent for team bonding and getting them hooked on the sport. It can be easy to forget they’re just 7-11 years old. 

Are there handicaps in kid’s golf?

The kids have handicaps, yes. So, when they want to transition from just playing socially to actually entering competitions, I use the old-school handicapping system.

You put three cards in, add all three scores up, and divide by three to get an average, which is your handicap. We have a par-20 on my kids’ course, so if their average comes out at 27.8, then their handicap is 7.8, and their playing handicap is 8.  

When’s the best time for a kid to move up to a full golf course?

This will depend on the child. For me, personally, if a child wants to move from the academy to the main course, I’ll need to approve that transition first.

I’ve had kids who are eight years old transition to the main course and play off blue tees. They hit the ball 100 yards, and they’ve had two years of competition golf on the kids’ course, so they’ll know about handicapping, scoring, net scores, gross scores, speed of play, marking the ball on the greens, repairing pitch marks and divots, and so on because we’ve taught them all of that.

What is your best piece of advice to parents of golf-playing kids?

I would say just allow your kids to make decisions. Be there to support them, but don’t try and do too much and get too involved.

I’ve experienced parents who are 100% supportive of their child, which is great, but you sometimes get parents who think they know more or better than the pro or coach.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when a parent will say something to their child like ‘Why did you do that?’ after a poor shot. I often think to myself, ‘Do you think that they wanted to do that?’

Instead, try phrasing it more helpfully and constructively, like ‘Did anything feel different on that shot compared to the last one?’ or ‘What do you think happened there?’

Speaking down to your child when they’re trying to learn the game will only add barriers to their progression.

For more on Aaron, visit acedgolfacademy.com.

The article below was written by Steve Carroll of National Club Golfer.

Is the worst of the weather now behind us? While we may have seen some sun over the past couple of weeks, the impact of months of rain may continue to affect our golf courses long into 2024.

Jim Croxton, chief executive of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers’ Association (BIGGA), told The NCG Golf Podcast saturated conditions and the postponing of important winter projects could bring a hangover later in the year for some inland and parkland courses.

While we’ve fixated on the downpours when it’s been coldest, Croxton revealed we’ve experienced around 10 successive months of above average rainfall.

New Met Office figures reveal the UK recorded 445.8mm (17.5 inches) over the winter – 129 per cent the 1991 to 2020 average and the eighth wettest on record.

Croxton said while that rain brought obvious problems, it also had other effects which impacted the golf course. 

“When it’s too wet, particularly on inland courses, you can’t really get machinery onto those golf courses because you’re just going to do damage,” he said.

“All the winter project work is behind at many clubs. A lot of them have just aborted their winter work and I did hear of clubs not doing their spring renovations because when the weather finally turned around, the last thing you want to do is go out there and punch holes in greens and make them unplayable for another week.

“It does huge things to the golf course itself. It is sat with the soil saturated for months. It means the roots can almost be drowning. It’s not great nutrition wise.

“It’s been very difficult to do all the agronomic processes you would normally do through that winter period.

“So while courses look great now, inland and parkland courses are probably going to have struggles as the year goes on – as a hangover because they haven’t been able to do the work they really wanted to over the winter.”

‘We always say, greenkeepers don’t close golf courses. The weather does’

Croxton added on the podcast that his members shared the frustration of golfers who had endured long spells without golf over the last few months.

“It’s not just golfers that are annoyed,” he said. “Our members have been really struggling that they just relentlessly go into work – ‘fingers crossed, can I get something done today? No. There is another 25mm on the rain gauge. Golf course closed’.

“We always say, greenkeepers don’t close golf courses. The weather does. But, essentially, it’s still the greenkeeper that delivers the message. They’re still the harbinger of bad news.”

Asked how much pressure greenkeepers came under to get the course open, he continued: “When I first came into at BIGGA, I remember asking, if I went to an event with golf club managers and greenkeepers, ‘how many clubs had a course policy document?’

“At that time, very few clubs had a written document, which I describe as their business plan for the golf course. Nowadays, when I ask the same question, the vast majority have got that written down.

“Within that, there should be guidelines as to what your policies are around whether you close for frost, when you close for fog, danger, health and safety, and what you do around your procedures for the golf course closing.

“This winter has been extreme. It’s been beyond that. You’ve been making a business decision on a daily basis whether opening the golf course brings any benefit or is outweighed by the damage.

“I know some clubs have just opened it when they can, because they know their members are getting really antsy and they want to give them the opportunity.

“Very often, golfers come back in and say, ‘it should be closed out there’. But at least you’ve given them a chance to go and play.

“I think the decision to close almost feels like failure. These guys come into work at five or 6am and, if their first decision is ‘no play today’, that’s a pretty poor way to start your day.

“You can’t deliver the thing you’re employed to deliver, even though it’s not your fault. That’s a pretty hard thing to take.

“I don’t think it’s taken lightly, or as lightly as it ever used to be. But I do think this winter has been so extreme. Driving around, I’ve seen flooded areas on roads near me that I’ve never seen flooded before. We know it’s extreme.

“I think golfers have been largely understanding. It’s just pretty difficult when it comes to Saturday, isn’t it? You’ve been waiting all week, you want to go and play in the winter medal, or whatever else it is, and ‘I’m sorry, course closed’.

“Or you’re playing eight holes, or whatever. For a lot of people, it’s their one chance to go out and get fresh air, competition, and community. It’s disappointing for people.”

The article below was written by Steve Carroll of National Club Golfer.

How does your club generate money? If you’re about to embark on a long list of items you should probably stop right there.

While they might get their cash from a variety of different places, nearly all a club’s gross profit comes from two places – members’ and visitors’ wallets.

Renowned golf industry consultant Kevin Fish can reveal that between 95 and 98 per cent is derived from member subscriptions and visitor green fees.

“Membership subscriptions and visitor green fees account for that high proportion of gross profit, and the only thing that changes is the balance between the two,” he said.

“Some clubs have become a little dependent on the drug that is visitor revenue, while others choose to stand on their own two feet to cover their costs.”

And he added while food and beverage brings in cash, it rarely generates any profit – his findings coming from having studied the accounts of more than 250 UK golf clubs.

Fish, who has trained over 3,000 club managers through his consultancy firm Contemporary Club Leadership (https://ccl.services), revealed the data on golf club finance expenditure was also remarkably uniform.

When it comes to spending money, it doesn’t matter how big the club are, where they might be situated, or how high up the rankings they may be, their costs are also all remarkably similar. 

Almost 50 pence in every pound is spent on the golf course, and the vast majority of that is on course salaries. “It’s pretty labour intensive out there!” he said.

Other departments like admin and house are fairly evenly matched, and a slightly lower proportion is spent on fixed costs like insurance, legal costs and affiliation fees.

Golf club finance: Where do the costs come from?

Then there is golf ops payroll – which is generally, but not always, the pro – and a very small sliver is allocated to membership costs.

Fish said: “That’s things like, ‘what do we spend on the juniors? Team matches?’ It’s generally about one per cent of the total. “You might look at those costs and say, ‘I’ll bet it’s not the same at every golf club’. That’s what everybody says when they first come to me for assurance.

“But it doesn’t matter which club it is, it doesn’t matter what county it is in. Size doesn’t matter. Quality doesn’t matter. Geography doesn’t matter.

“Clubs like to be compared to others of equivalent size, so I have three tiers, low, middle, and high, broken down by what a club thinks their course is worth to a visitor midweek.  

“The low tier charges less than £2 a hole, so up to £36 per round, the middle tier is up to £72 and high tier is above that. The figures and proportions (of expenditure) are almost identical.”

He added: “Of course there are always going to be outliers. But a club then needs to ask itself why they perform differently. If that was a conscious decision to perform differently to the other clubs, well done.

“But I sometimes find that a club didn’t realise it was an outlier, and that can put an end to years of mismanagement, years of people pulling the wool over your eyes, and the club can set itself meaningful objective measurements to work towards.

“The governance structure in golf clubs can make decision-making vulnerable to the loudest voice, so I now only ever go into a boardroom as the most informed person, and I strongly advise club managers and club chairpersons to do the same. Isn’t that what any other business would do?”