The junior golfers at Radley Run Country
Club are having more fun getting into the swing of golf this year. Each hole at Radley Run now has
additional tees designated specifically for the Radley kids.
The PGA of America and U.S. Kids Golf
launched the PGA Family Course Program, a nationwide initiative that makes golf
more fun for families, regardless of age and ability. Young players new to game are encouraged by our
beginner-friendly short course within the challenging Radley Run golf facility.
As their game progresses the child determines when they are ready to advance
from the Blue Markers to the Gold Markers and ultimately to one of Radley’s
four sets of tees that their parents enjoy.
Now parents and their smaller
children have the ability to play together faster, to shoot similar scores, and
have more comparable club selections thus learning the game faster. We have seen an increase in
parent/child play with the new tees and even more when school gets out for the
summer.
Radley’s Blue PGA level 1 markers
and the Gold PGA level 2 markers are identified by a marker off to the side of
the fairway and a corresponding teeing marker in each fairway. The Level 1 Blue Markers par 3 yardage
is between 45-85 yards, the par 4s are 85-135 yards and the par 5s come in at
135-195 yards, bringing the total 18 hole yardage to about 2,200 yards. As the young golfers get better and
more confident moving up to the Gold Markers lengthens the course to a total of
approximately 3,800 yards. Special
scorecards are available for the new Family Course yardage at Radley.
The reaction from the young Radley
golfers has been extremely positive. A family with three boys said they like that they can play with the whole family.
Kate Evanko, 13, an excellent junior
golfer already, plays from the Ladies’ tees, but said, “The new tees are
perfect for small children learning to play golf.”
Kate’s mother said, “I like all the
family activities at Radley Run.
Tennis, golf and swimming keep my boys busy all summer. I can actually
go out with the whole family regardless of ability or age using these new
tees.”
Now when the children at Radley say,
“Let’s go play a few holes Mom and Dad,” their parents really have a match on
their hands.
