Reaching out from its stately home in Far Hills, N. J., the United States Golf Association has generously extended its hand to untold numbers of Triad area youngsters. The USGA recently awarded $80,000 to the Triad Golf Center in Greensboro to develop an ambitious program that is expected to be in operation by the middle of this summer. It is designed for all juniors, not just those already into golf.

The Triad Golf Center applied for the grant through the Triad Youth Foundation, which has been started by Chris Haarlow—who is the lead instructor at the multi-layered golf facility just off I-85 between Rehobeth Church and Vandalia Roads. Owner Robert Linville, who is no stranger to these pages, is the owner.

Linville credits Haarlow with the major share of the project’s approval by the USGA because of Chris’ carefully crafted application. "He put this all together with a lot of hard work," Linville says.

Trey Holland, who is the president of golf’s governing body, said it was "one of the best

I’ve ever seen."

MacKenzie Hurd, who travels to look at all sites—as he did here in March—is handling this on the USGA end. His job is to approve each facility included in a plan. He took his findings back North to the USGA board for approval, which was granted early in May.

Linville says, "We are really excited about this opportunity to add to junior golf in this Triad community. Nothing like this has been done before in this area." Kids will get free access and a year-long program and instruction.

This will enable them to construct a special junior’s tee at TGC for instruction and they emphasize it will be for all, regardless of previous contact and experience with golf. All kids can come out and they will be given a "playability test" to see if they can be on a course by themselves.

If they pass this test of rules and basic skills, the youngsters will be able to play free. And even if they don’t pass, they can play free with parents or another adult supervising them. The adults will be charged a fee.

The TGC will work with groups such as the YMCA, YWCA, Big Brothers and Sisters, churches and others to set up the program for juniors who have never been exposed to golf. They will be able to reach any kid at any economic level.

The expectation is that young people will learn not just how to hit a ball but the whole game of golf and the life skills it entails. Things such as honesty, integrity, respect and etiquette will be emphasized—things sadly missing in many of today’s professional and amateur sports.

A sort of "Little League" of golf will be formed and teams will have six to eight players with volunteer coaches, as in baseball, soccer and football. Each team will be charged a small initial fee, which will hopefully be picked up by sponsors. But kids won’t have to walk around with "Joe’s Plumbing" on their shirts or "Betty’s Boutique" on the upturned bills of their caps.

There is only small stumbling block. The USGA grant is seed or startup money, good only for this first year, to prove the program viable. Haarlow says, "One of the keys will be to get the Triad community behind the program. Foundation and corporate help will give the program future life."

Those of you business and foundation people who are constructing budgets for 2001 could do a lot worse than add some money for this great junior golf program, which is

about much more than just golf.

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