Youth Must Be Served

Youth on Course, an initiative to help make golf more affordable for participating junior players, comes to Colorado.

WITH THE JUNIOR GOLF Alliance of Colorado leading the way, Colorado will become the latest state to launch the Youth on Course initiative. Youth on Course makes golf more accessible to juniors by capping their cost for a round at $5 at participating facilities, possibly with some date/time restrictions. The program then subsidizes a similar amount per round to the participating course.

The Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado, which was founded by the Colorado Golf Association and the Colorado PGA, gave its blessing to the addition of Youth on Course to the Colorado Junior Golf landscape.

Colorado will become the 20th state to formally sanction the non-profit program, which started in 2006 as a Northern California Golf Association initiative. “If we’re half as successful as some of the other markets, it’s going to be a real game-changer for player development,” CGA Executive Director Ed Mate said recently. “I’m really excited about it.”

Adam Heieck, executive director of Youth on Course, said the program had more than 30,000 members nationwide and had subsidized 115,000 rounds as of the end of 2017.

“We’re pushing hard for this to be in all 50 states by 2021 and actively pursuing other state and regional golf association partners,” Heieck said via email. “We’re also getting a lot of interest from PGA pros nationwide. Adding Colorado is huge given the strength of the Junior Golf Alliance and Denver as a key major market. We’re very excited to work with the JGAC team.

“We see Youth on Course as building a foundation for future golfers. Members are able to play more frequently with rates at $5 or less and they are therefore getting better. Removing cost as a barrier to enter the game can only help grow the base long-term.”

Part of the idea behind adding Youth on Course in Colorado is to make things uniform at participating facilities. “This is really a great opportunity to simplify and make it consistent so that it’s a lot easier to navigate for the end user,” Mate said. Plus, “it’s taking advantage of the brand, the best practices and experiences of other states that have used (Youth on Course), and some initial funding. It’s also a chance to be a part of a national initiative.”

Eddie Ainsworth, executive director of the Colorado Section of the PGA, and the JGAC team will be working with local PGA Professionals and their facilities to reach agreements with at least a couple of dozen Colorado public courses. The goal is to have numerous facilities spread across the state that will serve as pilot sites for the program. Those courses will commit to offering JGAC members rounds at a negotiated price, with the user paying $5 and the other money coming from Youth on Course headquarters for the first 18 months—and thereafter from Colorado-based donors and sponsors.

“We are excited to expand our collaboration with Section professionals to bring Youth on Course to Colorado,” Ainsworth shared. “All members of the JGAC will have access to subsidized rounds, which we hope will create more access and affordability to continue to grow participation across the state.”

The addition of Colorado gives Youth on Course a solid block of participating states in the western U.S. (California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico), plus many in the Midwest and a few in the Southeast. Youth on Course members in Colorado will be able to play for $5 or less at participating courses outside the state as well.

To participate in Youth on Course in Colorado, a youngster will have to be a Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado member. Membership costs vary from $25 for Introductory Membership, $100 for Series (intermediate-level) membership, and $150 for Tour (advanced- level) membership. The three-tier membership is new this year for the Alliance. To sign up, visit juniorgolfcolorado.org.

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This article appears in the Spring 2018 issue of Colorado AvidGolfer— the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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