Senior moments on the junior circuit

: Jul 24

I got a kick listening last night to my 18-year old son Tim and 16-year old Nicole Agnello of Florida discussing their days on the junior golf circuit. Tim had caddied for Nicole the last few days at the USGA Junior Girls National Championship at The Hartford (CT) Golf Club. Nicole played beautiful golf during medal play (148 for 36 holes), made it through to match play yesterday

The kids were careful to excuse us from examples of overbearing golf parents.

but, after two rain delays and then a third stoppage after just two holes, she fell off her game. After going four down on the first six holes, she won the 7th, 8th and 9th to get it to one down, but a brilliant bunker shot by her Texas opponent on #13 turned the tide, and the match ended on the 15th green.
Last night at dinner, my wife, Nicole's mom and I sat back and listened to the kids talk about their junior golf experiences. Nicole talked about one of her high school competitors in Florida who consistently "forgot" how many strokes she had taken on a hole, reporting she had one or two strokes lower than her playing partners knew she had played. On virtually every hole, Nicole would have to help the player replay each stroke to convince her of the proper score.

The kids also talked about classic overbearing parents (they made sure to exclude the parents present at the

Some parents cheer when their child's opponent misses a putt.

dinner table) who dragged their children to the practice green after a disappointing round and didn't let them leave for hours. Some parents, they reported, cheer when their child's opponent misses a putt. Others, they said, have been spotted kicking their child's ball out of a bad lie. One of Nicole's playing partners the other day told her, "My dad is going to be so angry at the way I played."
Yesterday, after watching Nicole's opponent slide a coin well under her ball to mark it on the green and then place the ball in front of the coin, thereby gaining a few inch advantage, Tim alerted the rules official walking with the players. A hole later, the rules official warned the girl about it. Golf is a game of inches, but it is also a game of rules. For the future of the game, we can only hope junior golfers get the message, even if it is too late for some of their parents.