Summer of 2007

Jack is loving golf and wanting to hit the ball whenever he can. Alisa is seeing this excitement and wants to join in. We find a summer group lesson at a nearby golf course, Las Sendas, and sign both the kids up.

Alisa, still not sure about this golf thing, but hesitantly goes and ends up finding a friend. Now she loves it. It's a girl thing.

At the same time we ask the kids if they want to be part of a summer golf tour with U.S. Kids Golf for the state of Arizona. They both say yes and we sign them up. Their first tournament is in June with tournaments on a weekly basis throughout the summer, for a total of 8 tournaments at various golf courses in the Phoenix area.

The boys competition is tough. Over 13 boys in Jack's age group and most are very good and have been playing for over 3-4 years. Jack is hitting in the 50's for nine holes and not placing, but he never gets discouraged.

There aren't as many girls in Alisa's age group, only seven. Not all of them play in the tournaments, in fact, most times she's the only one and gets 1st place for the tournaments even though she's hitting in the 50's too. The medals are Alisa's encouragement. One of the girls Alisa played with, Anya, shared similar interests and they both hit it off well together. In between holes, Anya and Alisa would be seen doing cartwheels and handstands. Girls will be girls. At the end of the season, Alisa and Anya tied for point standings, but Anya won 1st place through a scorecard playoff. Ah, but they're still BFF's.

By the end of the 2007 Summer U.S. Kids Golf tour Jack placed 4th overall and Alisa placed 2nd. The kids had fun and want to continue. We talk with the Director of Golf at Las Sendas, Ben Weir, and feel the kids have advanced through group lessons and private lessons would be more beneficial; Ben agrees.

Let the improvement begin!!

BTW - Ben Weir has played on the PGA Tour for many years.