Juniors in club tournaments

Noles · October 28, 2017

Are juniors allowed to play in regular club tournaments at your club? I'm asking because I was just told that my home club is proposing a rule that now prohibits juniors from playing in regular club tournaments. The reason they are giving is that alcohol is served during the tournaments and this presents an issue. My pro told me on the side that several members were upset when my 13 year old son and I finished tied for second in our 2 day member-member tournament in June. Just curious how it goes in your club.

leezer99 · October 28, 2017

For the members to change the by-laws would require a vote. All I can say is that you should be attending club meetings and making your voice heard if you want him to continue playing. That being said... read the other post about having a 12 year old join a club. Many good points made against having juniors in men's clubs.

Augustok · October 28, 2017

At our club Juniors May play in club championship theory being best should be crowned champ. But other than that no.

BrianMcG · October 28, 2017

No juniors were allowed to play in any club events in any club I worked at. The reason being is that, at those clubs, they were not members, their parents were, but they were allowed to use the facility. They did have many junior events.

Also, it rubs people the wrong way to compete against some teenager that can beat balls all day while they are working.

My personal opinion is that I don't think it should be allowed. But I'm a jerk.

Noles · October 28, 2017

For the members to change the by-laws would require a vote. All I can say is that you should be attending club meetings and making your voice heard if you want him to continue playing. That being said... read the other post about having a 12 year old join a club. Many good points made against having juniors in men's clubs.

Actually our club has an owner so really he has final say but he will go with whatever the golf committee decides. I will attend the meeting but it sounds like it is a foregone conclusion.

spezza11 · October 29, 2017

If a club doesn’t have a enough juniors to have a junior club tourney and the kid is good enough to play with the adults then what’s the harm. If that kids parents understand there could be some ignorant over 18 year old “adults” that’s cannot stop swearing for 4 hours and be sour that they are there because and go forbid getting beat, then they should be allowed to play. What kinda of mindset does these clubs that discourage the youth and future of the game!!!

Then those same adults complain about todays youth because they play video games indoors! Lol it’s a joke!

My opinion bottom line I would encourage all youth to play. If an adult can’t suck up his pride because he cant play and a 15 year old beats him, that’s his problem. Maybe that adult should workout a little more and work on his game rather then telling a kid that loves this game no go home you can’t play here!

I’m a 37 year old and play to a 5.3 index. If a 12-17 year old came out and beat me, I would think that’s awesome and tell him or her that!

We should be taking them in after and buying them a burger and soda give your heads a shake!

Noles · October 29, 2017

It’s not a major deal to me, just curious what it’s like elsewhere. I remember when I was younger I caddied several times for juniors in regular club tournaments so I figured it was pretty common. The part that irritates me is that it has never been a problem until this year when my son and I almost won a big tournament. Now suddenly it’s a problem because alcohol is available.

tiger1873 · October 29, 2017

If your kid is good enough they should be able to play. The problem is the average weekend hacker wants to think they have a shot at winning. Kids playing with them means they will drink less and feel like the tournament is rigged angainst them. They also are the same guys who complain the new guy wins and then complain the guy had a handicap too high. They are only happy if they beat the new guys. Kids are better off not playing with those people if they have any skill.

Kids who can play with adults should play in junior tournaments because if they can win they will get more then a free putter or some money to spend in the pro shop.

Noles · October 29, 2017

If your kid is good enough they should be able to play. The problem is the average weekend hacker wants to think they have a shot at winning. Kids playing with them means they will drink less and feel like the tournament is rigged angainst them. They also are the same guys who complain the new guy wins and then complain the guy had a handicap too high. They are only happy if they beat the new guys. Kids are better off not playing with those people if they have any skill.

Kids who can play with adults should play in junior tournaments because if they can win they will get more then a free putter or some money to spend in the pro shop.

He plays in plenty of junior tournaments. A lot of times in keeps me from playing in the club tournaments. So when he and I play as partners in a club tournament, its really for my benefit, not his. It created great memories. We played 4 different formats over 2 days. It was great. I had a blast. To me its silly that people want to prevent that.

tiger1873 · October 30, 2017

If your kid is good enough they should be able to play. The problem is the average weekend hacker wants to think they have a shot at winning. Kids playing with them means they will drink less and feel like the tournament is rigged angainst them. They also are the same guys who complain the new guy wins and then complain the guy had a handicap too high. They are only happy if they beat the new guys. Kids are better off not playing with those people if they have any skill.

Kids who can play with adults should play in junior tournaments because if they can win they will get more then a free putter or some money to spend in the pro shop.
He plays in plenty of junior tournaments. A lot of times in keeps me from playing in the club tournaments. So when he and I play as partners in a club tournament, its really for my benefit, not his. It created great memories. We played 4 different formats over 2 days. It was great. I had a blast. To me its silly that people want to prevent that.

Around here we the local pga puts on local father/son/daughter tournaments all the time. Usually they fill up quickly. That is the best place to do tournaments with kids. Some clubs it might be okay to pair with your son. Remember though some guys will not like it.

Last time I was at tournament in our club one of the guys joked how he made his daughter hit 30 times to hole to make sure she never plays again. He joked how he like his alone time without them. Needless to say it was a long couple of hours playing with him.

We tend to play golf as a family every Sunday when we can. This will create good memories as well.

Noles · October 30, 2017

If your kid is good enough they should be able to play. The problem is the average weekend hacker wants to think they have a shot at winning. Kids playing with them means they will drink less and feel like the tournament is rigged angainst them. They also are the same guys who complain the new guy wins and then complain the guy had a handicap too high. They are only happy if they beat the new guys. Kids are better off not playing with those people if they have any skill.

Kids who can play with adults should play in junior tournaments because if they can win they will get more then a free putter or some money to spend in the pro shop.
He plays in plenty of junior tournaments. A lot of times in keeps me from playing in the club tournaments. So when he and I play as partners in a club tournament, its really for my benefit, not his. It created great memories. We played 4 different formats over 2 days. It was great. I had a blast. To me its silly that people want to prevent that.

Around here we the local pga puts on local father/son/daughter tournaments all the time. Usually they fill up quickly. That is the best place to do tournaments with kids. Some clubs it might be okay to pair with your son. Remember though some guys will not like it.

Last time I was at tournament in our club one of the guys joked how he made his daughter hit 30 times to hole to make sure she never plays again. He joked how he like his alone time without them. Needless to say it was a long couple of hours playing with him.

We tend to play golf as a family every Sunday when we can. This will create good memories as well.

So is there a policy one way or the other at your club about regular club tournaments?

tiger1873 · October 30, 2017

Yes you have to be 18 but the fact that most of the guys playing are in there 60s even if your 25 you wouldn’t want to play with them since they treat anyone under 40 as a kid.

I would say that is pretty typical when it comes to country clubs. Generally better to play with a group of guys your own age anyways.