Sat, Nov 07 2009
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Published July 05, 2009 12:03 am - Local volunteers provide expert aid for youngsters learning game They arrive in waves.
Dozens of young boys and girls lugging oversized golf bags are followed by even more dozens as they walk across the Rangeline Golf Center parking lot, around the partitioned permanent practice stations and onto the grassy area at the far end of the range where instructors and volunteers wait. It is Monday morning and time for the Joplin Golf Foundation’s junior golf program. What could devolve into chaos is given organization when Mike Wheeler, director of the Joplin Golf Foundation’s program, starts dividing the youngsters into groups of 20 to 25 each. The kids quickly move off to assigned areas with the instructors. On this particular Monday morning, the driver — or the ‘big dog’ as some instructors and youngsters call it — is the focus of the lesson. This scene is pretty much repeated every Monday from early June through July at Rangeline Golf Center, where the free golf lessons are given. Because of the Fourth of July holiday, no sessions are planned on Monday. But the program will pick up again the next week. According to Wheeler, more than 225 boys and girls have enrolled in the program and between 150 and 175 will show up on any given Monday. Every week there are a few late registrants who either didn’t know about the program or are visiting the community. Although large, the numbers are manageable. That is a tribute to the dedication of a team of instructors led by Doug Adams, head pro at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club, his assistant Chris Redman, Lady Eagles golf coach Shannon Rhinehart and a cadre of some of the area’s top amateurs. Volunteers handle everything from checking in players to checking out golf clubs, and from making certain each boy or girl is in the correct group to handing out water and fruit juice to thirsty kids. There have been members of high school golf teams offering to help, too. On this day, three players from Webb City were working with the youngsters. A golf tournament for program participants is scheduled Monday, July 20, at Rangeline Golf Course. Youngsters are being asked to sign up early and parents are being sought to serve as scorers. Volunteers also will be stationed at every hole. Although Wheeler is happy with the way the program is progressing, he isn’t satisfied. “There are always in my mind things we can do better and things we can do differently,” he says. “For instance, next year we will have three sessions rather than two. And we’ll do the sign-up differently.” What he has in mind is concentrating on getting an optimum number of youngsters in each group. “We may have the first 50 or 60 who sign up in the first session, and then we’ll start on session two,” he added. “It may not be based on age, but on the right number for us.” The purpose is to provide more instruction time for each youth. What has made this program such a success is that it is a win-win bargain for parents and for kids. There is no charge. The instruction is handled by professionals and top amateurs. Participants also get discounts on buckets of range balls and rounds of golf at Rangeline Golf. And, at the year-end party on July 27, sets of clubs may be given away to youngsters who have shown promise and interest. Another major upgrade envisioned by Wheeler for next year would involve offering a “handful of professional lessons” free to youngsters that the staff thinks would most benefit. The golf foundation already pays to send a couple of youngsters each summer to the University of Arkansas golf camp. 
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