If golf is going to grow, it needs to attract kids. To do this, there are two requirements:

1) High-quality, affordable, attractive equipment

2) Affordable, accessible, playable courses

As for number one, thank goodness that the days of sawed-off 7-irons are over. They are over, right? Well, they should be. If you cut down your irons and jam an adult-sized grip on them and expect to groom the next Tiger using these crude tools, you’re woefully mistaken.

Sawed-off adult clubs are the WORST thing for kids and juniors. They are too heavy, the shortened shafts are too stiff, and the grips are too big. All of these combine to tire out the poor child and promote a take-away that is too inside and too steep, followed by a choppy out-to-in swing, followed by a ball rolling ten yards up the fairway, followed by tears, tantrums, and a very sour taste in everyone’s mouth.

Today, there is simply no excuse for subjecting your kids to this sort of golf torture. Companies such as La Jolla Golf (who used to make kids’ clubs exclusively) produce sets for toddlers on up. Big-name brands such as Nike, Cleveland, Dunlop, and PowerBilt have followed La Jolla’s lead with their own color-coded sets – different colors for kids of different ages/heights.

All of the above concerns are allayed with these sets: Clubheads are light, shafts are flexible, and grips are small. The only drawback is that they will cost you between $79 and $250 for a set. But if you buy a set that the child has to choke down on 1.5-2 inches (no more!), they might get 2 years’ use out of them.

And after all, if you want to raise a Tiger, you have to nurture the cub…

What is really cool is when Junior’s set is made to match Dad’s (or Mom’s). Once kids reach a certain age, they’re not satisfied with golf’s version of Granimals. To meet the ever-more discriminating tastes of the pre-teen to early-teen set, some manufacturers are coming out with junior sets that look like smaller versions of “real” clubs.

La Jolla Golf is one of the companies that seem to understand the tastes of the kids today. “Junior golfers need to start playing golf not only with products that perform, but with products that fit their eye, just as adult players have,” said Les Miller, Vice President Sales, La Jolla Club Golf. “Our new wedges get juniors started in the right direction, with equipment just like the better players use.”

In designing the new La Jolla Club junior Gun Metal Wedges, attention to detail was critical. The shape, bounce and grid of these clubs make them high-performing, and a quality Super Flex graphite shaft and a Winn grip add the finishing touches. Plus the matte gun-metal finish just looks cool.
Another excellent example of manufacturers trying to lure kids to the game is the Ping Moxie Junior set, which features a Moxie driver that looks very much like a G2, and a Craz-E-style putter.

So, the equipment side of the equation is looking pretty good. Now if we could find more courses and/or clubs willing to add a par-3 course like Lake of the Woods in Mahomet, IL or executive course, where kids could learn and practice without breaking the bank or holding up adults.

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