By Joe McInerney
What are your favorite golfing memories?
Most people might think of a memorable golf trip with buddies, or maybe a hole-in-one. My favorite memories come from grinding over five-foot putts in the dark using flashlights with my friends, as our nine-hole, match-play scramble came down to the final hole on the 18th green at Harding Park. My friends and I were far from good; we were novices, hacking our way around a major championship venue. But while most of the other players on course had paid between $75-$120 for their round of golf, depending on where they’re from, we had only paid $5 apiece thanks to the nonprofit organization Youth on Course.
Youth on Course (YOC) was founded by the Northern California Golf Association in 2006 as a creative new model to provide kids an affordable way to play golf. Beginning with Poppy Hills Golf Club in Monterey, YOC quickly expanded in Northern California before making the jump out of state in 2014. This nonprofit partners with clubs to offer heavily subsidized rounds to junior members, who pay a small initiation fee and annual membership fee for access to these rounds. What started with a single course 15 years ago has spread across the country: there are now over 100,000 members, 1,400 participating courses, and over a million subsidized rounds of golf.
Youth on Course holds a special place in my heart, because it is entwined with my own golfing story. I grew up in Marin County, Calif., just north of San Francisco — an area filled with world-class but mostly private golf. I was first introduced to the game by my aunt and uncle, both avid golfers who lived on a now-defunct golf course in Petaluma, Calif. At only 5 or 6 years old, I wasn’t much of a golfer, but I enjoyed it from the start. Sadly, only a year or two after I first picked up a club, my Uncle Tom passed away from a sudden heart attack at age 50. I will always remember hitting a memorial tee shot on my uncle’s least favorite hole at his home course, the dreaded 13th at Adobe Creek Golf Course. It was the best drive of my life, uncharacteristically good for a 6-year-old, and I knew my uncle was with me.
I lost interest in golf in the ensuing years, no doubt influenced by my uncle’s passing. My Aunt Judy was the only other member of my family who played, and I occasionally played with her in the following years, always stopping to sit on the bench that bore my uncle’s name on the 13th tee. Sadly, my Aunt Judy was diagnosed with cancer a few years later and passed away in 2013. I entered high school in San Francisco with zero interest in golf, since the game reminded me all too painfully of my aunt and uncle.
About a year after my aunt passed away, I watched Jordan Spieth finish second at Augusta behind Bubba Watson in the 2014 Masters. For the first time since my aunt had passed, I felt little tinges of what I soon realized was the golf bug. I had an old set of hand-me-down clubs that my aunt and uncle had given me, and like most weekend hackers, I hit the course on one of the most popular weeks of the year for public golf: the week after the Masters. My friends and I played a local public course for probably $50 (thank you mom and dad for paying for those early rounds), and I probably shot about 130 with quite a bit of Patrick Reed-esque bending of the rules. My friends and I began to play more, but the greens fees were beginning to add up, and our parents' patience with green fees of $50 and up was running thin.
Then we discovered Youth on Course, which had begun to spread like wildfire across Northern California and into the Pacific Northwest. We quickly signed up and opened a Pandora’s box of cheap golf.
Over the next three years of high school, my friends and I played golf whenever our schedules allowed it. Harding Park was our mecca. Whenever we didn’t have sports practice after school, we would race over to Harding after class and try to play as many holes as possible before dark. Thanks to YOC, we played countless $5 twilight nines at Harding throughout high school. By the time I graduated high school, I had gone from a 120-shooter to a 9-handicap. Simply put, we would never have been able to play anywhere near as much golf as we did if we did not have Youth on Course. I owe my love of golf to my aunt and uncle, but I owe my ability to play the game to Youth on Course.
“Growing the game” has become one of the largest cliches in the golf world. Nearly every new design concept, rule adjustment, or equipment innovation is geared toward growing the game. At its core, growing the game means ensuring the future sustainability of golf in America and around the world. As evidenced by the rapid expansion of YOC across the country in recent years, there is no better model in the United States for growing the game than Youth on Course. The 15-year-old me didn’t care about the distance debate, nor did I consider the architecture of the courses that I played, outside of whether it was difficult. All I cared about was being able to get outside and walk nine or 18 holes with my best friends, playing a game we all loved.
In many ways, golf is still an incredibly snobby sport. Most major championships are still played on courses most golfers will never come close to playing. The game’s governing officials come from elite private clubs, the prohibitive costs of clubs and green fees remain a daunting barrier of entry, and white males still dominate American golf culture. Different corporations, organizations, and members of the golf community have sought to change these stereotypes; look no further than No Laying Up as an example of the golf community seeking to change the landscape of golf in America. However, the sport as a whole still needs to do more to introduce the game to kids across the demographic and economic spectrums. Youth on Course, along with First Tee, are the most compelling developments in the golfing landscape in recent decades. For the first time, kids from different backgrounds across the country have access to affordable golf. We must do more to lift organizations like YOC and the First Tee to ensure the future success of the game.
I am now 22 years old and will be graduating this spring with a degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Golf has already given me countless opportunities to meet new people, gain professional connections, and make new friends. I have no doubt that my background in golf will be an invaluable asset in life, and I owe it all to my aunt, uncle, and Youth on Course. I hope that I will be able to open doors to even more kids like me, who want to play golf but can’t afford to fork up the costs themselves.
Joe McInerney is a graduating senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from San Francisco. He is a 9 handicap who thinks it should be more like a 13. His Twitter handle is @jmcinerney17.
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