Young students who started with TGA programs in schools and community centers are finding success in one of golf’s leading junior initiatives
Los Angeles, CA – From Seattle to New York City, thousands of youth across the country are in full swing at 1700 TGA Premier Junior Golf (TGA) summer camp programs, and it will not be long before after-school enrichment programs start anew.
TGA, a leader in growing golf through its school and community based programs, has created a Player Pathway for introductory golfers to come into the sport and be transitioned into leading industry programs. Most notably Drive, Chip, and Putt.
A joint initiative founded in 2013 by the Masters Tournament, United States Golf Association and The PGA of America, the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship is a free nationwide junior golf development competition open to boys and girls ages 7-15 focusing on the three fundamental skills employed in golf.
The TGA model, with its focus on youth ages 6-13, fits perfectly with the Drive, Chip, and Putt demographics, and has become a growing feeder system and pathway to introduce kids to the competition.
In Bergen County, New Jersey, the TGA Chapter owned by Kevin Rooney is one of the largest in the country. It has had seven of its students qualify locally, including Nicholas Theodorou, a 9-year old student at the Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Mahwah.
Alison Theodorou said her son has been in the TGA program since age 3 where he has learned the foundation of the game as well as how to play in competitions like Drive, Chip, and Putt.
“From preschool clinics, after school classes, to on course experiences including full golf rounds, TGA has given Nicholas the confidence and ability to qualify through local, sectional, and even into the regional rounds of the Drive, Chip, and Putt,” she said.
On the other side of the country in Seattle, Brad Kirkpatrick, who operates two TGA Premier Junior Golf Chapters, said he is seeing more and more students every year get introduced to the game of golf through TGA then transition into Drive, Chip, and Putt and other programs.
“This year we had three students out of our program qualify for the state championships,” he said. “To see these kids get their first introduction to the game and watch them excel in competitions and grow to become lifelong golfers is very gratifying.”
TGA, Teach, Grow, Achieve, first launched its Player Pathway in 2003. TGA begins by delivering extended-day golf enrichment programs at Pre-K, Elementary and Middle Schools putting golf on the same menu for kids as the mainstream core sports. Parents are given the option to enroll their children in the sport through a before or after-school golf program they otherwise may not have considered.
About TGA Premier Junior Golf
TGA Premier Junior Golf (TGA) is one of the leading industry model bringing new players into the game. The franchise business model, the only one of its kind and recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine as a “Top 10 Franchise Value,” empowers entrepreneurs, PGA Professionals, PGA Sections and Golf Management Companies to activate youth (ages 3-13) and their parents (ages 25-45) through introductory programs at elementary and middle schools, childcare centers and community centers. TGA’s curriculum focuses on instilling a passion and skills development of golf while incorporating character development, STEM core academics, and physical activity. Introductory programs feed into recreational programs at golf courses that include camps and leagues. TGA has taught over 500,000 juniors while making the sport available to 1.5 million families nationwide.
For more information about TGA Premier Junior Golf, visit www.playtga.com or follow @TGAJuniorGolf on Twitter.
Contact:
TGA Premier Junior Golf
Joshua Jacobs – CEO
(310) 333-0622
joshua@playtga.com
Kevin Frisch – Public Relations
(989) 614-0241
kevin@playtga.com