Wednesday in Siloam Springs started out with a beautiful morning, cool and clear. The wind wasn't too strong. The acute humidity that all too often plagues this corner of the Natural State was nowhere to be found. The grass was colored a vibrant and healthy green from the strong rains of the late spring and early summer.
It was a perfect day for golf.
More than 50 kids aged 6-15 took advantage of the perfect conditions this week by participating in a camp teaching the fundamentals of golf, hosted by Siloam Springs Country Club and non-profit company The First Tee. Of the 53 students, 26 were new players that didn't have their own clubs, said Michael Dryer, from The First Tee.
The camp was divided into four sections, teaching students the basics of putting, chipping, irons and driving. Students rotated through the sections before competing for trophies on Thursday and playing through a few holes on Friday.
While teaching the basics of golf to a new generation of potential players, coaches tried to instill the nine core values of The First Tee, which were applied to life both on and off the golf course. The values were courtesy, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, honesty, integrity, perseverance, confidence and judgment.
"Any core value we have, we can incorporate into golf," Dryer said.
Organizers hoped to help build a player base for the sport in Arkansas, as the game of golf has seen a decline over past years.
"Golf is such a great game in many ways," said Siloam Springs High School golf coach Michael Robertson. "It teaches a lot of life lessons."
"It's a game you can play with your husband or your wife or your kids," Robertson said. "It's a game you can play in business settings."
Robertson said he had been planning on doing a youth-centered golf camp for the past few years, but this is the first year everyone has gotten together and made it happen.
"Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, golf as a family game has declined over the last few years," Robertson said. "We're just hoping some of these kids stay in the game and continue to get better."
And a base of players who have accumulated years of experience by the time they reach High School could only be a good thing for Robertson's team, members of which were out helping coach the camp. On a given day, about half of Robertson's 26-member golf team were out helping coach the kids.
One of those student-coaches was McKenzie Blanchard.
"I have played on the golf team for two years now, and I've really enjoyed partnering with the First Tee," Blanchard said.
Blanchard herself started playing golf at an early age, before taking a break from golf and returning to the sport to play on the high school team.
"I think that integrity is something that is really important in golf, and teaching these kids this early is something that I think is really important," Blanchard said. "It's something that's really important in life, and it's really important in golf."
General News on 06/11/2017