Special Focus

More About Hook A Kid

Today's junior golfers are tomorrow's adult golfers. According to a study conducted by Golf 20/20, adults ages 19 to 34 who were exposed to golf through a structured junior program play 50 percent more rounds and spend over 70 percent more on fees and equipment each year than those not enrolled in a program at a young age.

Hook A Kid On Golf's mission is simple: to provide communities with a comprehensive youth golf program that eliminates the obstacles that discourage youngsters from learning and continuing to play golf while instilling in them an understanding of golf's rules, etiquette and history. The different levels of programs offered allow kids to progress from learning the basics, to playing on the course for the first time, to participating in tournaments.

Hook A Kid On Golf has an Illinois State Office designed to aid park districts in the coordination and implementation of various programs. Grants are available to agencies that may not be able to afford to run a program without financial help. Contact the state office at 630.466.0913, Illinois@hookakidongolf.org, or www.hookakidongolf.org.

Heidkamp
Earns National Recognition for Promoting
junior golf

By Andrea Long

Is there another Tiger Woods golf prodigy in Illinois? Thanks to the efforts of golf professionals such as Old Orchard Country Club's Marc Heidkamp, there just might be.

Heidkamp, a PGA golf professional and an employee of the Prospect Heights Park District, was named Hook A Kid On Golf's 2001 Site Coordinator of the Year by the National Alliance for Youth Sports. Through the Hook A Kid program, nearly 40,000 children nationwide have been introduced to the sport since 1991.

Hook A Kid On Golf was offered to Mount Prospect residents in 1999 when Heidkamp introduced the Tee Level Clinic, a weeklong instructional program for first-time golfers ages 8 to 13. Since its initial session, the program has expanded to include the complete Hook A Kid On Golf training series including Start Smart Golf, Tee Level Clinics, Green Level Training Programs, the Challenge Golf League and the Traditions of Golf Challenge. The anticipated registration for the 2003 Hook A Kid On Golf program at Old Orchard Country Club is expected to exceed 200 children.

"Heidkamp's program is a model for any community in America that is interested in developing a complete youth golf experience," says John Engh, vice president of Youth

Development for the National Alliance For Youth Sports, which coordinates the Hook A Kid On Golf program.

"He takes children and parents who have had no exposure to golf and creates an interest in a sport that they will be able to share through the remainder of their lifetime. He was also one of the first in the country to incorporate every element of Hook A Kid On Golf into his local program."

In 2001, Old Orchard Country Club took a team of young golfers, made up of Hook A Kid On Golf participants, to Valparaiso, Indiana, for the third annual Traditions of Golf Challenge, a 16-team national event that tested players' skills and knowledge of the game's rules, etiquette and history. Old Orchard Country Club's team tied for second at the weekend tournament.

"I love this program," says Heidkamp. "It provides today's youth with an opportunity to learn more than just golf. It teaches them all aspects of the game including its history.

"And these kids end up possessing more knowledge of the sport than most avid adult golfers."

Andrea Long
is the supervisor of marketing and events for the Prospect Heights Park District.

March/April 2002 31