With arguably the most prestigious tournament in the world starting on Thursday, it’s fitting that Cronulla Golf Club are doing their best to uncover their own future stars of the game.
The club wrapped up their seven-week junior program late last month, their second block of clinics.
The program followed a free gala day in January with more than 60 youngsters attending, with players encouraged to follow up with the fortnightly clinics under the watchful eyes of Cronulla professionals Col Arnold and Warwick Dews.
And with Australian heroes Adam Scott and Jason Day teeing off at the US Masters at Augusta National this week, there’s always hope that Cronulla will unearth Australia’s next champion.
Junior development committee member Lloyd Elphick said the clinics had been well received.
“We give them the foundations to play golf and even if they’re not going to take it up immediately maybe they’ll come back later in life because they have the basics,” he said.
“We focused more on learning to play straight away [and] if they feel ready at the end of the program they can join the club as a junior.
“If not we encourage them to come back for more clinics.
“Basically it’s been Col giving instruction on the golf swing and the basics of the set up while Warwick concentrated mainly on the chipping and putting.”
Elphick said encouraging junior players was crucial for the future of the sport.
“Golf has a lot of competition,” he said.
“It’s a hard sport, it takes a long time, it can be expensive.
“But it’s also very rewarding.
“Kids have got so many options these days so we need to do what we can to encourage them.”
The club plans to continue running the clinics in terms one and four of the school year due to the success.