Junior Golf Growth and Little League Impact

Junior League Golf launched a pilot program in 2011 beginning with junior golf leagues in Atlanta, Tampa, Dallas, and San Diego; and the program has been growing across the U.S. since its implementation. Minnesota, as of last spring, caught on to the trend by creating its own PGA Junior Golf League. The program has grown exponentially across the United States with over 9,000 participants and 740 teams in respective markets. Minnesota is growing extensively with the adaptation of the program having over 50 teams registered for the 2015 season.

This is a substantial upgrade compared to where Junior League Golf was in past years. Talking to a former Junior Golf participant who has 6 years of High School Golf experience, he has been very pleased with the direction of Junior Golf. “I played 7-10 Junior Golf tournaments per summer, most of which were local within 30 miles of the Twin Cities,” said Aron Elias who played Varsity Golf at Hopkins High School for four years in addition to two years of JV. He emphasized how it created an extremely fun but competitive environment, yet there was definitely room for improvement.

When asked about the biggest factor for the growth of this pilot program in recent years, he stated awareness and feasibility as the two biggest reasons for it. “Youth do not have the mental capacity to read or study a golf swing and then in turn, teach themselves how to get the club in the correct impact position,” Elias said. PGA professionals are educated on how to improve youth swings and development. The problem is, affordable teaching can be hard to come by, but there has been more convenience and affordability as of recent.

Youth need to take advantage of the new opportunities presented to them with the ultimate goal of growing the game of golf. Participation has been growing and for good reason, kids are using the resources and improvements to their benefit by becoming more involved each year. Whether you are a beginner or you play all the time, join one of the fastest growing sports leagues in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Section PGA consists of PGA Professionals who are experts in the game and business of golf. Our mission is to promote the enjoyment and involvement of the game of golf and to contribute to its growth by providing services to golf professionals, the golf industry, people who play golf or would like to start playing golf. PGA Section Offices oversee the 41 geographic regions throughout the United States and provide the grass-roots network for the nation’s 25 million amateur golfers and with the PGA’s 27,000 members.