GOLF

The “Irmo Chapin Winter Youth Tour” season has just 3 weeks to go.

There is much to report, so let’s dive in.

Super Bowl Sunday turned out to be a great weather day for the Tour. Charwood Golf Club hosted the Pitner Othodontics, Midlands Electrical, and Exit Palmetto Division. This division finished play in less than 2 hours.

Now for the lesson today which requires a little background and offers some great golf news.

This program is extraordinarily unique because it is not a motor or physical skill developmental program.

This golf recreational experience is a strategical-conceptual or cognitive based initiative designed to inspire the entire family to have fun participating together.

In its original design format, the intent was and still is to get entire families outdoors on the course to actually learn golf while playing the game. For decades in other sports like baseball, football, and basketball, these games were introduced and developed on the actual playing fields.

I was a part-time assistant Dixie Youth baseball coach and an umpire during college. I enjoyed T-ball and Coaches Pitch most because I saw parents on the field, in the dugouts and stands as fans.

After few years, I teamed up with Donnie Lindler of the Irmo Chapin Recreation Commission with Steve Gant, Richard Kohn and Jack Terrill in administrative support to introduce golf in a similar way in our community.

Because of the tremendous community support of this program, sustained for almost 30 years with thousands of players with families to reference, here are a couple of developmental observations.

Children learn fast when they are having fun learning. They make golf seem easy because they can learn fast.

Now for the best developmental news. People and seniors with life experience and learn just as fast under 2 conditions:

1) If they have fun learning

2) They think they can

Please check the Lexington County Recreation and Aging website ( www.lcrac.com ) for a brand new family golf option that starts in March. Go to ‘Athletics’, then in the last paragraph, find then click ‘Family Junior Golf’. For details, call assistant athletis director B.J. Belville at (803) 359-4048 Ext. 240.