Introduce your kids to golf without losing your patience (or your club membership). Here are some tips to help your kids get as excited about golf as you do.
Choose the right time of the day
We probably don't need to tell you this, but this is not an 8am Sunday morning activity. Or at least not if you plan to go to a golf course where there are other people. (If you happen to have your own private golf course at your disposal, we'd be happy to do whatever you want. We might as well be friends?). Limiting golf time for the whole family to evening hours is advised not only out of consideration for your fellow golfers, but also for your own sanity. There's nothing fun about watching your kid take eight consecutive shots into the bunker while some impatient cranky grin stands with his hands on his hips in the fairway. We are convinced that children should have a general respect for the pace of play from an early age, but you are making yourself a disaster if you don't allow the occasional delay.
Buy nice golf articles for them
It is important to keep your children enthusiastic, especially when they are just starting out. Giving them a little wave every now and then will certainly help with that. For example, think of some tees or a box of balls. Only when they discover the latest shoes from Malbon Golf do you have a problem. It is therefore better to choose a cap from Birds or Condor.
Take a golf cart
This is another one of those philosophical compromises you have to make when it comes to golfing with kids. As a golfer, you may be a real walker because you feel that the game should be played that way and because you like exercise. But a golf cart for kids is an outing in itself. It's fun, it's a great conversation piece, and it reduces the fatigue factor that inevitably comes with carrying your own bag. Don't take a golf cart every time you play with your children, but for this you will also have to pull out your wallet every now and then.
Adjust the distances
This should probably be first on the list as it plays such an important role in your child's enjoyment of the game. There is nothing noble about forcing your child to play the same meters as you. It makes the course manageable and allows them to have at least some positive experience before discovering how miserable this game can be. Speaking of which…
Use other scores
Children are very competitive and always want to win. Especially if you play with several children who, like you, do not take into account letting the other win now and then. The goal, of course, is still to get the ball into the hole as quickly as possible. You can ask them to give points for their own strokes. If it's a good trick, you get a +1 with an average trick, a 0 and a bad trick, a -1. So no matter what you score in the normal way, any positive score is a win.
Lots of fun!