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How young to start you kid playing golf?


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My daughter is almost 3 and always asks to play golf with me. When I hit into the net in the back yard she chases balls and has tried to hit a few with my clubs. I'm thinking about getting her a kids set and letting her ride along on the course with me and maybe hit a few. 

 

How young is too young to bring your kid? I would only bring her to a par 3 course that is very kid friendly. 

For those of you that started your kid early, how did you do it? 

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7 minutes ago, rmvanbuskirk said:

My daughter is almost 3 and always asks to play golf with me. When I hit into the net in the back yard she chases balls and has tried to hit a few with my clubs. I'm thinking about getting her a kids set and letting her ride along on the course with me and maybe hit a few. 

 

How young is too young to bring your kid? I would only bring her to a par 3 course that is very kid friendly. 

For those of you that started your kid early, how did you do it? 

My son is 4.5 and he has loved golf for years.  As soon as he could walk he was putting in our living room with his little plastic putter.  He has been playing mini golf with me since he was about 20 months old and him and I have been splitting a large bucket at the range since he was about 2.5 when I got him his first US Kids club.

He loves watching golf and playing golf.  That being said - I haven't taken him to the course yet.  I don't want to overwhelm him with the SIZE of real golf or the rules and annoying things about playing golf on an actual course yet.   I want to keep it fun and keep him enjoying it rather than me pushing things on him.  He keeps asking to play golf with me so this summer we will go to the pitch and putt for the first time.

For me - it is about fun.  If he is having fun, I am happy.  Maybe when he is 7 or 8 and he still is still all about golf I will look into formal lessons and junior programs, but I do not want him to lose the passion or enjoyment for golf by pushing him too hard.

I'd rather have a golfing buddy for the rest of my life than have him go to college one day on a golf scholarship.  If that happens and he is leading the charge on it, so be it - but I am not going to over expose him at such a young age.

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5 minutes ago, jlukes said:

For me - it is about fun.  If he is having fun, I am happy.  Maybe when he is 7 or 8 and he still is still all about golf I will look into formal lessons and junior programs, but I do not want him to lose the passion or enjoyment for golf by pushing him too hard.

I completeley agree. I don't want her to dislike it. She enjoys playing around with me and I think she would like to ride in the cart for 9 maybe. I would be willing to abandon the round if she got sick of it. 

She does have a plastic putter she loves to play with. Anytime I ahve my cklubs out she is trying to get balls and a club to swing. I figure my wife can't agrue too much if I am spending quality dad time bringing my daughter to the course. 

 

EDIT: I can't spell

Edited by rmvanbuskirk

Driver :callaway-small: XR 10.5°

Irons: :titelist-small: AP1 PW-4i

Wedges: :vokey-small: Vokey 56°  & Vokey 60°

Putter: :odyssey-small: White Hot OG #5 Putter

Bag: :titelist-small: Players 4 Stand Bag

Ball: Kirkland Signature V2.0

 

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53 minutes ago, rmvanbuskirk said:

I completeley agree. I don't want her to dislike it. She enjoys playing around with me and I think she would like to ride in the cart for 9 maybe. I would be willing to abandon the round if she got sick of it. 

She does have a plastic putter she loves to play with. Anytime I ahve my cklubs out she is trying to get balls and a club to swing. I figure my wife can't agrue too much if I am spending quality dad time bringing my daughter to the course. 

 

EDIT: I can't spell

Highly recommend the US Kids Yard club as her first club. Super light weight, can hit real balls with it and has a built in grip trainer.  Just be sure to get the correct one for her height. 
 

https://www.uskidsgolf.com/right-start

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I waited until my son was 7 and then enrolled him in a kids clinic our town holds every summer. That way he was learning away from me and getting some solid fundamentals while still having fun. Prior to that I would bring him with me when I played 9 holes, he'd putt around or just wander the tree line to see if he could find a ball or two. I've never put any pressure on him, and there were a few rounds where we ended early simply because he stopped having fun and was getting bored. I didn't want him to learn to associate those feelings with golf. Eventually he got to the point where he asked to quit baseball because he wanted to play PGA Jr instead.

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I have a 14 yr old and 9 yr old, and both of them played PGA Jr League in 2019 at 12 & 7 respectively.  There was no league last year due to COVID, and they haven't really showed excitement for wanting to play again this year, so I'm not pushing it...even though I would love for them to play.  My 14 yr old can hit the ball really well, but he doesn't like the game at all.  My 9 yr old loves the game, but mostly just wants to be with me when I go and play a round.  Like @jlukes, I'd love to just spend time on the course with the two of them, and I'm sure that'll happen in time.  

Funny story; when they were playing in Jr League I would usually walk with my youngest, but after 2 holes, during the 3rd match, he turns to me and says, "I got this dad, go be with my brother."  I was a little taken back at first, but then very proud that he felt like he didn't need caddie dad there anymore.  The best part was when he made a long putt for birdie for his team...he still mentions it to this day when we play that hole.

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28 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Highly recommend the US Kids Yard club as her first club.

Just ordered a set. Thank you for this. 

Driver :callaway-small: XR 10.5°

Irons: :titelist-small: AP1 PW-4i

Wedges: :vokey-small: Vokey 56°  & Vokey 60°

Putter: :odyssey-small: White Hot OG #5 Putter

Bag: :titelist-small: Players 4 Stand Bag

Ball: Kirkland Signature V2.0

 

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1 minute ago, M. Parsons said:

Funny story; when they were playing in Jr League I would usually walk with my youngest, but after 2 holes, during the 3rd match, he turns to me and says, "I got this dad, go be with my brother."  I was a little taken back at first, but then very proud that he felt like he didn't need caddie dad there anymore.  The best part was when he made a long putt for birdie for his team...he still mentions it to this day when we play that hole.

This is awesome. I will look into the PGA Jr. League when she gets a lot older. 

Driver :callaway-small: XR 10.5°

Irons: :titelist-small: AP1 PW-4i

Wedges: :vokey-small: Vokey 56°  & Vokey 60°

Putter: :odyssey-small: White Hot OG #5 Putter

Bag: :titelist-small: Players 4 Stand Bag

Ball: Kirkland Signature V2.0

 

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24 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

waited until my son was 7 and then enrolled him in a kids clinic our town holds every summer.

I have a cousin who is a PGA pro and will get my daughter some lessons in the future if she continues to show interest. Really I just want her to be able to enjoy what she can and start to love it. 

Driver :callaway-small: XR 10.5°

Irons: :titelist-small: AP1 PW-4i

Wedges: :vokey-small: Vokey 56°  & Vokey 60°

Putter: :odyssey-small: White Hot OG #5 Putter

Bag: :titelist-small: Players 4 Stand Bag

Ball: Kirkland Signature V2.0

 

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My son is 8 and he had a plastic set young around 2. He’s enjoyed just whacking the ball around for several years and he had been coming on courses with me since he was maybe 5? 5/6 he just whacked it around so I made sure it was a course that wasn’t in great shape. 7/8 he’s starting to understand play and I would be comfortable bringing him on courses with me and teeing him up 100-200 out and letting him take his hacks

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Mine started at 6. He would have probably started sooner, but he was 6 when I picked up the game and he wanted to do what I was doing. He’s now 14 and a competitive junior golfer that shoots in the mid to upper 70’s the majority of the time. 

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  • 1 year later...

I have 2 daughters (almost 8yo and 2yo) and they both have big time interest in the game, unfortunately we haven't been able to get out too much because it seems like we have been sick for at least the past month one thing after another. But I am doing my best to keep it fun for them and not intervene too much when we go to the range. I am for sure getting one of the training grips from Golfworks that way I am not correcting her as much, its more of a "use this to help you hold the club better". But I very much enjoy the time with my kids and as @jlukes said above, what I would love would be to have a golfing buddy for life. I hope that above anything you both enjoy this golf journey together.

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Two isn't too young to have fun batting a ball around in the yard, or even riding along on course just for fun - she might lose interest on her own, but if she's having fun what's the harm? As for actually playing it seem most lessons don't begin before age 5-6 and frankly I can't imagine having a youngster like that on a course. Right or wrong my parents didn't let us play until we were both 10 years old, and we (Mom, Dad, Sis & me) only played late in the afternoon on weekdays to avoid holding up adults playing. Age 10 seemed plenty early for me to actually play golf on a course.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’m on the fence. My girlfriend’s 4.5 year old was showing some interest.I routinely swing a club in the backyard to loosen my shoulders. I’m still slowly trying to figuring out the roll of future step dad currently. He has was born with a strong willed personality and giving him instruction is very difficult. I’ve tried in the past to get him to do simple things like tossing and catching a wiffel ball with little success.

Golf is so difficult to teach, I figure I’ll wait him out until he is mature enough. Not sure if that’s the optimal route 😅, or if there is a better way.

 “They call it golf because all the other four letter words were taken.”

‒ Raymond Flyod

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This is a great question. My oldest daughter is 4 and likes putting my basement with my little “putting green” so I bought her a kid putter with a pink handle on Amazon for $33. My 2 year old has started playing with us too. I have take the older one twice to ride with a friend for 9 and she had fun but didn’t play. 
 

She has started to ask to go putt in the basement with me which is a sign she really likes it. 

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On 6/11/2022 at 6:35 PM, Survivor740 said:

Golf is so difficult to teach, I figure I’ll wait him out until he is mature enough. Not sure if that’s the optimal route 😅, or if there is a better way.

I would suggest not teaching him at all. Unless you are qualified to do so find someone who can teach him. Will be better in the long run for both of you. 

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13 hours ago, THEZIPR23 said:

I would suggest not teaching him at all. Unless you are qualified to do so find someone who can teach him. Will be better in the long run for both of you. 

I completely agree with this. My family has shown interest in Golf (Wife and 7yo daughter mostly, 2yo daughter loves swinging her little plastic club... at us and whatever else is around lol) and the one thing I have tried to do is not teach but guide thru gentle nudges i.e. heres how you hold the club, try to stay still while swinging, keep your eye on the ball and swing away. If I try to direct her too much I worry that one of us may get frustrated and it will affect the experience. 

Here are some links from the us kids golf site that you might find useful.

https://foundation.uskidsgolf.com/play-and-learn/play

https://foundation.uskidsgolf.com/play-and-learn/learn/player-pathway-overview

Driver - default_taylormade-small.jpg R9 Superdeep TP 10.5* - Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana 65g XStiff Shaft

3 Wood - 2020 1ef73718.png Tight Lies 16* - Aldila Synergy Red 50-S Shaft

2 Hybrid - 1ef73718.png Idea Pro - Aldila VS Proto+ 'By You' 80-S Shaft

3 Iron - default_taylormade-small.jpg R7TP DGTT SL S300 Shaft

4-9 Irons - default_taylormade-small.jpg R7TP DGTT X-100 Shafts (6i has mismatched Project X 6.0 shaft)

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