As I watched Winter Tour players, parents, grandparents, and friends play golf this past Sunday, at both Oak Hills and LinRick, grand golf memories flooded my mind.

The first memory was stimulated by conversation I had at LinRick with “GiGi”, the grandparent name for Diane Goebel, as she walked to the 4th green carrying a golf bag.

“I love caddying,” she said smiling. “I like watching how the kids play golf. How they handle themselves with each shot, the good and the not so good, is fun and impressive.

“Also, I like nature. In fact I love turkey hunting. I have seen turkey tracks out here and they are fun to look for. Caddying is also great exercise because we are walking 2-plus miles during the round,”

It should be mentioned that “GiGi” & “Poppi” shared the caddy duties. It also should be noted that “GiGi” and “Poppi” were caddying for their grandson’s friend, Cubby McDonald, whose parents were with their other children at a soccer event.

Greene Petty is their grandchild and Greene’s dad, Heath, was on his bag.

GiGi’s quote was the perfect set up for today’s lesson which has been a constant theme this winter.

“How they handle themselves with each shot, the good and the not so good, is fun and impressive,” she said.

The mindset and attitude of a young developing player can be extremely similar to the best in the world. Typically, the new players handle the off-center, off-line shots in a manner which allows them to move to the next swing with fresh enthusiasm without regard to the previous.

The most important shot in golf, besides the 1 faced with currently, is the next one. Speaking of new players, there are spring g recreational-based Family Golf programs coming this spring that focus on the very young.

Richland, Lexington and Irmo-Chapin have these upcoming and registration is going now.

What’s unique about the program, besides being available to pre-school and kindergarten age, is parents and grandparents are invited to participate and they all learn together.

Swing skill building along with on course playing skills are studied. For more information, check these websites: http://richlandcountyrecreation.com/fall-golf-programs-at-linrick-golf-course/,icrc.net, https://sports.bluesombrero.com/lcrac.

The Winter Tour’s competitive Division 7 sponsored by Scott Parker Real Estate Agent with Signature Homes and Land, Turf His Way, and O’Leary Orthodontics, visited Camden Country Club and Chase Cline was the medalist.

Lilly Reed Black was medalist at Cobblestone in the Pitner Orthodontics, Grow Golf Now and Tsunami Bar Sports Competitive Division 6.