The Kids Are Alright

Local U.S. Kids Golf members shine

Marina Beach

U.S. Kids Golf ended its season with its 15^th annual World Championship in Pinehurst, N.C. In all, more than 1,500 boys and girls between the ages of five and 12 from around the world competed. One member of the Denver Local Tour contingent, six-year-old Andre Dumonteil of Centennial (pictured above), carded his first ace, holing the 85-yard eighth hole with a hybrid at Midland Country Club. Both Dumonteil and 10-year-old Skylee Shin placed ninth in their respective age-based tournaments. Others making the trip were Traejan Andrews, Eva Pett, Suchit Sharma and Halley Schalk.

All of them, as well as sister stars Marie (pictured below, right) and Anna Jordaan (pictured below, left), had participated in the Denver Local Tour of U.S. Kids, an organization that produces more than 800 tournaments in 50 different markets. The organization customizes the sport for juniors through its tailored equipment line, instruction and tournament series.

Less competition-oriented than the Colorado Junior Golf Association and Rocky Mountain Junior Golf Tour, U.S. Kids focuses on players wanting to learn and play in a collegial atmosphere. “I don’t believe in disqualifying,” says Denver’s U.S. Kids Director Rick Timm, whom the Colorado PGA last year honored as Junior Golf Leader of the Year. “I limit each hole to a score of 10. That way we can keep up pace of play and hopefully encourage the juniors to keep playing.”

To that end, U.S. Kids encourages players to have caddies. “Anyone is allowed to caddie for the player, so I see grandparents, parents, siblings, you name it,” Timm says. “It’s neat to see how each team works together.” It’s that kind of lighthearted teamwork that Timm—who also runs his eponymous golf academy at Family Sports in Centennial—fosters. “I would much rather be known as the fun tour.”

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