What's New in Spring 2020
As we recollect on what has been our most successful season yet, we also eagerly look ahead to our upcoming spring calendar.
This past fall served as the beginning of our partnership with Gainesville Country Club, one of the premier courses in all of North Florida. Straying from our roots at West End Golf Course, we also added three new PGA professionals with the transition. The result was the largest season we have ever experienced, with 150-plus juniors across all of our programs.
Across the 10 weeks there were countless laughs, learning and unprecedented fun, that culminated into our first annual end-of-season banquet and parent-child scramble, where students were given food, awards and a presentation from ESPN’s Michael Collins.
So, what’s in store for 2020?
First, Gator Junior Golf is proud to say that we have joined forces with golf’s governing body to become an official LPGA-USGA Girl’s Golf Site, joining a contingency of over 500 locations with the aim of growing the game for young women. Since its inception in 1989, the program has aimed to provide girls with quality golf instruction led by certified PGA and LPGA professionals, while also imparting valuable life skills and confidence.
Starting in Spring 2020, we plan on introducing Girls Golf clinics at Gainesville Country Club. Two of our finest instructors, Amica Lertkitcha and Rica Tse will be actively involved in the instruction and empowerment of our young women and will undoubtedly take on mentor roles in the lives of many of them.
We will have ten annual events for girls only, ages 6-17, varying from simple full swing instruction to exciting and interactive clinics engaging them in all kinds of golf-related activities. Along with that, each girl in our program will receive special membership packages that include goodies like hats, backpacks and ball markers.
Something new we tried this past fall was to connect and share the game of golf with the children at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital. In October, the kindhearted staff at Shands welcomed us into their facilities and gave us a few play rooms for the children to come and go as they pleased. We set up our SNAG putting equipment (plastic putters, putting mats and tennis balls) and gave quick little tips and encouragement for quality strokes.
With the success of our first visit, we have since started a hospital outreach program, and plan on visiting Shands once every month to provide light in the lives of the children in our community who need it most.
Ironwood Golf Course has long served as host to our Wednesday afternoon clinics with the Girl’s Place and Reichert House programs. Since 2016, we have partnered with the two to provide golf instruction to underprivileged and oftentimes at-risk youth, growing the game among those who otherwise would never have had such opportunities.
In Spring 2020, Gator Junior Golf will partner with Special Olympics Florida – Alachua County to teach golf to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Also at Ironwood and instructed by our very own Bobby Estrada, the class serves as yet another outlet to expand the joys golf can bring.
The transition to Gainesville Country Club this past season did wonders for the growth and development of our program. The amenities and facilities proved to be first-class, and we were able to tap into a new market that we previously thought was unattainable.
Starting in Spring 2020, Gator Junior Golf will expand further to host classes at both Mark Bostick Golf Course and Turkey Creek Golf Course in Alachua. The expansion gives us a near-complete presence in Alachua County, and a class at the university-owned course is a great look for our growing brand.
PGA Jr. League is a program that we recently felt the need to expand and associate with. It’s a team golf experience where kids wear numbered jerseys and compete in a two-person scramble format against other programs and golf courses, with oversight from PGA and LPGA professionals. Our Class A PGA Professional Bob Geambazi will lead the Gator Junior Golf team come this spring, and we couldn’t be more excited.
Gator Junior Golf would be nothing without the quality of our product. As we continue to expand, we strive to gather the best teaching professionals the area has to offer in order to provide premier instruction in all of our classes.
As a result, we have hired a number of PGA professionals to impart their knowledge on our junior golfers week in and week out. Bob Geambazi and Greg Betz (Gainesville Country Club), Scott Hampton (Mark Bostick Golf Course) and Eric Thomas (Ironwood Golf Course) are all on board with us next season to share their years of industry knowledge with our youth.
Expanding on our most successful season to date has been no easy feat. We strive every day to build upon each season, and to grow the game of golf through as many outlets as possible. However, it is with the help of our community that we are able to achieve all that we strive for.
To operate all of the new programs and initiatives laid out, the Gator Junior Golf Association has a fundraising goal of $10,000. If you want to support our program, please give $10, $25, $50 or $100 this holiday season. Donations to our program can be made through the following link: https://gatorjuniorgolf.org/checkout/donate?donatePageId=5974eac0ff7c509e1d27517c.
Spring 2020 will no doubt be the most successful season Gator Junior Golf has had, and it would not be possible without the help of our community.
Thanks!