How Important is Tournament Experience for a Young Junior Golfer?

[bumpnrun]

My 7 year old son is an accomplished golfer who has been playing seriously since he was 3. The trouble is that we live in far Northern California so there are few opportunities for him to play with kids his own age. This means he mostly competes in local tournaments against 9-10 year olds who have a serious distance advantage even if they don't play as well.

Although he is competitive in that age bracket and has even won events, his 7 year old sense of fairness is completely offended.

There are tournaments in the San Francisco area with kids his age but that is a 6 hour haul each way. Is it worth dragging a 7 year old around all summer so he can get some competitive experience, or should we just wait until he is older?

 

[Dent]

You pose a very good question. It depends what your goal is right now. If you are looking to get him into College golf and have the aspirations of him making a career out of it, get him started as early as possible. Of course It won't be until he is 14,15 that he will actually be looked at by colleges through AJGA tournaments and such the more experience the better right? It sounds like you are on the right track for this. As far as AJGA tournaments I am sure there are a ton in your area for him to enter when he gets older.

If you are just going with the flow and just want him to be in tournaments for the sake of experience, I don't think it's worth the drive until he perhaps learns the true meaning and underlying lessons of tournament golf. It's about honesty, class, sportsmanship etc and I think he may be a little too young to know what those are. I'm sure his main points are to go out there hit the ball and shoot a good score to see where he ranks at.

Maybe if you give some more info on where you want to take him I can help you out a little better. Good luck!

 

[lcsmrtn]

I think 6 hours each way for a 7 yr old and may take the fun out of it IMO. He's already playing tournament golf against what would presumably be stronger fields due to the age gap. For me I would wait a few years, there is nothing for him to learn in SF that he can't learn now. On that note, good luck to the little guy!

 

[staticline]

I think 6 hours each way for a 7 yr old and may take the fun out of it IMO. He's already playing tournament golf against what would presumably be stronger fields due to the age gap. For me I would wait a few years, there is nothing for him to learn in SF that he can't learn now. On that note, good luck to the little guy!

If he's having fun, keep doing what you're doing. The SF trips could be the 1-2 special occasions that gets the family out of town for a couple of days.

At the age, having fun should be the priority.

Good luck.

 

[bumpnrun]

You pose a very good question. It depends what your goal is right now. If you are looking to get him into College golf and have the aspirations of him making a career out of it, get him started as early as possible. Of course It won't be until he is 14,15 that he will actually be looked at by colleges through AJGA tournaments and such the more experience the better right? It sounds like you are on the right track for this. As far as AJGA tournaments I am sure there are a ton in your area for him to enter when he gets older.

If you are just going with the flow and just want him to be in tournaments for the sake of experience, I don't think it's worth the drive until he perhaps learns the true meaning and underlying lessons of tournament golf. It's about honesty, class, sportsmanship etc and I think he may be a little too young to know what those are. I'm sure his main points are to go out there hit the ball and shoot a good score to see where he ranks at.

Maybe if you give some more info on where you want to take him I can help you out a little better. Good luck!

Thanks. He believes he is headed for the Tour though we try to be realistic. College golf is certianly the goal at this point. He qualified for and played in the US Kids Golf World Championships at Pinehurst when he was 5 and did OK against a 6 year old field of top players and loved the experience (me too). My worry is that the kids who get to play in 15-20 tournaments a year will have a mental advantage but don't want to burn him (or me) out with too rigorous a travel schedule.

 

[gbigoose1]

Thanks. He believes he is headed for the Tour though we try to be realistic. College golf is certianly the goal at this point. He qualified for and played in the US Kids Golf World Championships at Pinehurst when he was 5 and did OK against a 6 year old field of top players and loved the experience (me too). My worry is that the kids who get to play in 15-20 tournaments a year will have a mental advantage but don't want to burn him (or me) out with too rigorous a travel schedule.

Wouldn't keeping him in the same tournaments earn him the experience anyways? And if he's winning, I see no problem in just keeping him in the older age groups. Just always tell him that they are older and they might win, but by the time he's that age he should be sweeping the field.

 

[CharlieMoy]

The more competitive experience the better. ESPECIALLY in golf. If youre serious about his game, and he wants to play in events and win events, I wouldnt consider it dragging him around. If he wants to play, and you have the coin to support it, Id be jumping in 2 feet first.

 

[bumpnrun]

Wouldn't keeping him in the same tournaments earn him the experience anyways? And if he's winning, I see no problem in just keeping him in the older age groups. Just always tell him that they are older and they might win, but by the time he's that age he should be sweeping the field.

The biggest difference is in the quality of play and the yardage. In the 9-10 age division here he plays regulation yardage which means he is a minimum of one stroke behind by the time he gets to the green (a 350 yard par 4 hole is Driver, 3W, 3W just to reach). He has to play lights out to shoot 45 and if a good 10 year old is in the field he doesn't have a chance. In the bay area the yardage is cut in half and he has a chance even against the very best 7 and 8 year olds.

 

[bumpnrun]

The more competitive experience the better. ESPECIALLY in golf. If youre serious about his game, and he wants to play in events and win events, I wouldnt consider it dragging him around. If he wants to play, and you have the coin to support it, Id be jumping in 2 feet first.

To fund the golf trip or the college fund might actually be the question I am asking. Thanks.

 

[h2ojon]

I can see two different sides of this. If you want golf to remain to be fun at this age traveling that far for a tournament might make it less fun for your son. However if the ultimate goal is for him to be in the top tier of golfers there is no substitute for tournament experience. As a current college player I can attest to the fact that I can go out and shoot in the mid 70's in a practice round and then shoot an 80 in tournament play because the added pressure to make putts. If you have the ability to play in more tournaments you get your mind molded to that mind set and it becomes easier.

 

[Hole~Out~1983]

As far as tournament experience goes, if hes truly serious about being competative even at this age nothing beats experience. As far as taking the 6 hour trip I think you would have to decide if thats something that would be feasible for you and if so then I would base your decisions on what would truly make your son the happiest while providing the best growth and learning oppurtunitty for his mind and his game without being over worked and losing his passion for the game.

 

[Esox]

Maybe take him to one or two of the more yardage friendly events and he may not mind being at a length disadvantage when he plays the others. If you can minimize the frustration in those events, I think playing with the older kids may be beneficial in the long run.

If he sticks with it, eventually you'll have to start to travel. I'd minimize the travel at 7 years old, but that's only my opinion. You'll know his mindset better than anyone that can answer in this thread. You don't want to hold him back, but you don't want to wear him down, either. He's got a long way to go before he's even a teenager.

Kevin

 

[Dent]

Thanks. He believes he is headed for the Tour though we try to be realistic. College golf is certianly the goal at this point. He qualified for and played in the US Kids Golf World Championships at Pinehurst when he was 5 and did OK against a 6 year old field of top players and loved the experience (me too). My worry is that the kids who get to play in 15-20 tournaments a year will have a mental advantage but don't want to burn him (or me) out with too rigorous a travel schedule.

I would let him enjoy the sport for now, while progressing. If you are serious about college golf as well, get him a swing instructor already. Mold him into a high ability athlete (of course that sounds wrong, didn't mean slavery) but let him enjoy the game and see where he wants to take it. I think as he starts getting older REALLY look into the high level tournaments such as like I said AJGA and others around your area to get him noticed. Of course he is going to need tournament experience to put on his golfing resume for colleges so the earlier the better. Like I said though most colleges only recognize AJGA, IJGA, State Ams etc, and some highschool. Definatly get him to play high school golf as well.

 

[junior lefty]

I loved tournament experiences at that age, but I think 7 hours is a little far. Most importantly of all, ask him. Present it to him in a clear manner, that if he really wants to play golf competitively, just tell you.

 

[rrpruett]

If he's having fun, keep doing what you're doing. The SF trips could be the 1-2 special occasions that gets the family out of town for a couple of days.

At the age, having fun should be the priority.

Good luck.

I agree that this could be a great trip and if you guys are having fun traveling around playing golf id go for it. I remember a lot of baseball tournaments that we traveled long distances to for one of my sons that played travel baseball. It was one of the best time we had as a family. We also did a lot of traveling with two of my boys in BMX. Do it while there young because as you know, it seems to go by very fast.