I was having a converastion with one of our club Members last week about the state of the game and we both agreed that more needed to be done promoting junior golf. It seems like we have lost one ,but possibly two generations of young golfers over the past twenty years or so, and as a result our participation numbers are flat if not declining. This is nothing new...we are all well aware of this!
What seems wildly incredibel is that this happening when we have had arguably the most recognizable athlete in the world at the head of our sport since 1997. In addition to this don't forget about our own Canadian hero, Mike Weir's, and his international success, which you think would equate to a huge increase in young Canadian golfers.
Our member then asked me this question "What did Mike Weir do to promote Junior Golf in Canada?". I had to pause and think.....I said to him "Well, he has his Mike Weir foundation and I am pretty sure he has a Golf Tournament each year". He snapped back at me "You call that promote? He pionted his finger and me and said "Let me tell you something....his time has passed and nothing changed, when do you think we are going to have another Canadian Golf with that type of success?" he began getting a little heated. "Think about this" he said to me, "Why don't you see Mike Weir involved with Golf Canada or the CJGA or for crying out loud even his own program for developing young golfers?" I couldn't think of an answer....I was at a loss for words and at the same time, began wondering myself. Shouldn't things be going really well for junior game in Canada? The seeds have been planted but nobody is there to water them!
I told him I would do a little reseach on this and get back to him....as I felt that there must be something out there....some grass roots program, some foundation...something that has been put in place to take advantage of this amazing combination of events. Did we really miss the boat?