Hopefully we remember many of the important “firsts” in our lives; first date, first hole in one, etc.  The most memorable golf moment for me was beating my pops on the course for the first time, and it wasn’t easy.  We only played 9 holes and I had to eagle the 9th hole at Mountain View G.C. to beat him, it was one of my first rounds in the 30’s and my first eagle.  I put all my eggs in one basket and I’m pretty sure my dad was more proud of me than I was happy.

As a coach experiencing my athlete’s “firsts” might be more memorable for me than it is for them, many times I think it is.  When I reflect back on the past year I remember the first box jump from one of our young athletes, my daughter Mira’s first 60 yard drive and seeing an athlete figure something out on their own without my prompting, are very memorable for me.  It is why I love coaching, to see our young athletes perform or complete something they were unable to do the day before.

Yesterday I had a great opportunity to introduce 6 athletes to the golf course, which is one of the best moments I have as a golf coach.  Their parents have a variety of expectations; score well, hit good shots, behave, etc.  I respect each of those expectations and they are realistic but I have a different goal for each of them, HAVE FUN!  Before the round I try to make sure our parents know that is my goal, that is why we play golf!

Here are a couple of pictures from the course yesterday.

Most of the guys are 6 or 7 years old so we had to take a couple of breaks and we discussed what to do on the course and how everyone liked the golf course.  It’s always great to hear their responses; it’s hilly, I need a snack, let’s hit a ball in the water.  We are always on our toes, which makes it fun and exciting for me!

I try to leave all of our young athletes with a couple of messages.

1. Remember our golf etiquette and congratulate other players on their good shots
2. When a shot doesn’t work out as we planned, how do we recover and prepare for our next shot

I’d like to think everyone will remember those concepts, particularly #1.  It was great to see the athletes hit good shots and the other guys congratulated them without being prompted.  That tells me that our coaching team is doing a good job imparting the skills to be good golfers but more importantly to be good individuals.  Golf is just the medium for us to influence our young athletes to be good people.

Yes……Golf Changes Lives!