Junior Golf Tournament Readiness

Are They Competent and Mature Enough?

Judging your child’s readiness to compete in their first junior golf tournament is important. You do not want them to be embarrassed or just in general have a bad time. So even if your child is raring to go, take some time to decide if they are prepared to compete.

Is your child competent enough?

Before signing up for his first junior golf tournament, your child should be familiar with the game of golf. He should be able to get the ball up in the air and know how to tee off and the differences between a full swing, chipping and putting. He doesn’t have to be perfect, but should have a basic knowledge of how a round of golf goes.

Junior Golf Tournament Readiness - Links to the Different Tours

Your child should be familiar with basic golf rules. There will be marshals available at most golf tournaments to answer ruling questions and at novice junior golf tournaments, especially where the kids are younger, many times parents are allowed out with their kids during the round to help with rule questions. To ensure readiness, you should have your child read the USGA’s Rules of Golf publication. If they are too young for that, the USGA also publishes Snoopy and Friends Address the Rules of Golf. Click here for more information on where you can find these books about readiness and others that are appropriate for your child.

From the start, your child should have some knowledge of golf etiquette. Again, he doesn’t have to be perfect, but if he wants to play with the other kids, he’s going to need to know that talking right when someone is about to hit the ball isn’t going to win him friends! A good bet for younger kids is Junior Golf Etiquette from A to Z, which also explains basic golf rules and is available at Amazon.

Your child should have had some basic golf instruction before entering his first tournament. A golf coach will help your child learn all aspects of the game and will help them develop the specific shots they will need on the course. A good coach will also help you determine if your child is technically and mentally ready for competition. For more information on how to find a golf coach, click here.

Is your child mature enough?

It is equally important that your child is mature enough to compete in a tournament. This is a relative term; there are plenty of tournaments that have 8 and under divisions where obviously you wouldn’t expect your 7 year old to behave like a 15 year old. However, your child should be able to handle age-appropriate competition. Keep in mind, too, that many tournaments have volunteers helping the younger kids keep score out on the course, also teaches helping them learn rules and etiquette.

Being able to play safely is very important. Your child needs to be aware of where other players are and not be swinging clubs around or walking behind someone swinging a club. If your child is not able to concentrate during a lesson, they are probably not ready for competition.

You kid should be able to behave out on the course! During tournament play, the other kids in his group shouldn’t have to worry about him running after ducks (or whatever else is more interesting) on the course. They need to be able to keep their temper in check and throwing clubs (or balls) is never acceptable, nor is bad language.

Is your child a talker? Does he talk in everyone’s backswing? Does he comment and give a play-by-play on everyone else’s shot on every hole (putting for birdie…oops…putting for par…too bad…putting for bogie, etc.)? You would be doing him, and everyone else, a huge favor by telling him to concentrate on his own game and not talk too much!

Don’t let your junior golfer play head games with the other kids. More than once, we’ve seen kids that were winning a tournament blow up and lose after a few “well placed” words from a competitor. In its extreme form, this is considered bullying, and as competition heats up you see kids resorting to this. This is a crappy way to win, so make sure your child isn’t the known course bully.

Your kid should not cheat! This can be extremely tempting, especially if your child is used to playing casually with Mom or Dad and not counting every stroke. Golf is a gentleman’s (and gentle ladies’) sport and everyone is expected to honestly count every stroke. During tournament play, scorecards are passed around and the kids will keep their score along with someone else’s. This presumably keeps everyone hones, but if your child is focusing on his own game, he’s not really watching every stroke Johnny or Jill is taking. Please make sure you reinforce fair play with your junior golfer!

Finally, your child should be able to handle success and failure appropriate to his or her age. If your child is devastated when he or she loses or is mean to the other kids after winning, they may not be ready for competition. If your older child is having difficulty because he or she is not winning like they used to, you may want to have them meet with a sports psychologist.