Learn to Let Kids “PLAY” Golf

Introducing Your Kids to the Game

By Jason Manshum

There is something about golf and its passage to the next generation. It’s one of the time-honored traditions of the game. This generational passage of parents playing with their children is unique from other sports and athletic activities. 

Introduced to the game by my parents as a toddler (I have no memories of life without golf) and having introduced my now teenage son to the game at about the same age, I appreciate the tradition – and challenge – of introducing your child to the game you cherish. 

As is much in life, taking your kids to the course with the hope of sparking a lifelong love (obsession?) of the game, is a bit of trial and error. Here are a few things I learned along the way.

Make and Keep it Fun
If you think you can play your normal game and format, keeping score for your handicap while playing with a child, you are setting yourself up for failure. It’s a completely different mindset when playing with children. If you want them to find it fun, you must make it fun! 

The first time I took my son to the course, I couldn’t keep him out of the bunkers – they were a giant sandbox to him! Literally a beach! So, we played some rounds together where we’d play a hole the traditional way, but then the next hole he could play in the sand, look for frogs in the pond, or whatever he found fun in the moment. I’d join him. (I should note that I properly raked all bunkers after our playtime.) Now that he’s older, he wants to “Happy Gilmore it” on the tee. This was a tougher sell, but I’ve let him enjoy taking a whack at it this way from time to time as well.

Let Them Enjoy the Game at Their Own Level
Even with all the fun described above, some kids will take to the game more than others. Your children may never become obsessed with the game like you. They may not even care for it. My son, for example, will go out for a fun round with me or his grandparents a few times a year, but golf is not his thing. He’d much rather spend his free time on his Jon boat casting a line for largemouth bass. And that’s okay! They are their own person. They don’t have to be like you. 

If they play all the time and are competitive with you, great. If they just want to go out on occasion and have fun with breakfast balls, gimmies, and foot wedges, that’s great too. Whether they beg you to take them each weekend, or you beg them to play with you on a rare occasion, you must let them find their own enjoyment in the game. It’s only fair that I spend some days on the lake with my son, rod in hand. It’s the time we spend together that makes the memories, not the specific activity. 

Bringing your child into the game is exciting. But also intimidating if you’re unsure how. Just don’t be dead set on making them love the game as much as you. That’s not the point. They may take to the game immediately. The game may come to the game later in life. Or they may never really like it. Regardless, remember that golf is a game. 

Games are played. And playing is fun. 

So, focus on allowing them to have as much fun and enjoyment on the course as possible while spending time together. And you’ll enjoy it too.