Detroit Youth Learning to Golf In LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Program
By Teresa Silver
The summer golf season has set on a terrific program run by the Michigan Women’s Golf Association (MWGA) where mostly girls, but some boys, get top-notch instruction and mentorship by members of the PGA and the MWGA.
On a Tuesday afternoon in early August, Detroit area girls and boys played a 9-hole golf scramble competition in partnership with adult golf mentors from the non-profit MWGA at Evergreen Hills Golf Course in Southfield.
PGA certified teaching professional Terri Ryan zipped around from one foursome to another giving hitting, putting and pace of play advice to her students and occasionally borrowing a club from one of the kids to demonstration a technique.
The experience for these eager kids was all part of the MWGA’s LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Program, a 10-week summer golf instructional program that has been in existence in the metro Detroit area since 2006. It gives a boost to the city’s kids who don’t belong to private clubs and golf courses with access to comprehensive LPGA professional golf instruction.
After several weeks of driving range instruction from Ryan and LPGA teaching professional Debbie Williams-Hoak, the kids got course experience by playing alongside the MWGA mentors who volunteer their time to golf with the students and reinforce golf strategies and etiquette.
Francine Pegues, MWGA Girls Golf Program Director, is passionate about the program, which she says is developing the next generation of Michigan female golfers – and she doesn’t mind at all that a few boys (mostly brothers, and kids that live near the golf course) have enrolled.
But once the kids get to their teenage years, she separates the genders because studies have shown teen girls don’t try as hard when competing with boys. The Girls Golf Program, she said, is designed to teach girls the game of golf and give them all the advantages of instruction that boys tend to receive far more easily.
Pegues works hard to prepare the older kids in the program for high school golf team tryouts and possible college golf scholarships down the road.
“The most unclaimed college scholarships are for girls golf,” she said, proudly adding that the Girls Golf Program has two former students attending colleges on golf scholarships this fall.
After college, she wants the girls currently in the youth program to have golf skills to level the playing field in the business world, too.
“Business deals are made on the golf course, and I did business deals on the course,” she said. “Women who are competitive on the golf course are competitive in business.”
The MWGA raises $5,000-6,000 annually to offset program costs. The LPGA and USGA national Girls Golf Program subsidizes the program with $25 per student golfer. The students pay $50 for the summer program, but kids who qualify for free lunches in the public schools pay a reduced fee of $20. The students additionally enroll in the “Youth on Course” program for an annual fee of $15, which allows the young golfers to play at many golf courses for a discounted fee of only $5.
Pegues said the MWGA invests heavily in the Girls Golf Program because they see the youngsters as the next generation of the association. “These girls are our future.”
