Grove Kids are one of the most important groups in our Community. And Golf is offering so many ways for today’s youth to get involved and learn to love the game of a lifetime. In 2020, even in the midst of a pandemic, we had over 75 kids, ages 4-17, participate in our programs. We anticipate that number will greatly increase this season as we have had even more families join our community and want to become a part of our programs.
This effort has been led by Hannah Skelley. Since joining The Grove, Junior Golf Instructor Hannah Skelley has made it her mission to make The Grove the club with the best junior golf opportunities in Middle Tennessee. “When a new family moves to our area and asks, “Where is the best place to get my child involved in junior golf?”, I want that answer to be, without a doubt, The Grove!”
Hannah is supported by an entire Golf Staff led by Doug Oubre and Jude Lenahan. Jude in particular has created a teaching practice that attracts people of all ages and skill levels. Hannah and Jude work together to nurture the Grove Kids, helping them reach their individual goals. For kids, the sky is the limit in this great game.
The Junior Golf Programming at The Grove offers so many ways for our young ones to get involved. All of our clinics focus on skills such as putting, chipping, full swing, irons, drivers, hybrids, bunkers, aim, alignment, and more. We also discuss values such as honesty, respect, leadership, and teamwork. Activities include:
Wee Tees program, starting at ages 4-6. This program offers monthly clinics and two golf camps, one in June and one in July.
Junior Golf Program, ages 7-15. This program includes monthly clinics (boys and girls), a girls golf class, an open range night for parents and children to come out, hit on the range, and ask questions, and two golf camps in the summer.
PGA Jr. League, ages 9-13. This program runs from early June to late July and is for our more advanced juniors looking to gain that extra bit of experience as they enter middle school and high school golf. Matches are played in a 2-person scramble against 2 players from another club. This is a great way to teach our young players the importance of communication, teamwork, and problem-solving.
Grove Kids League, ages 9-13 for kids who did not play PGA Jr. League and who are not playing middle school golf. It’s an 8-week program from August through the end of September with weekly practices, intrasquad scrimmages, skills challenges, and more. This program is designed more for our beginner golfers who are looking to be a part of a team and gain knowledge of some of the basics of golf while meeting other kids their age!
There have been countless moments of pride in our junior golfers. The 2020 PGA Jr. League team won their first 5 matches of the season. This was an incredible achievement moving forward from previous years. On the same note, The Grove had over 30 individual combined tournament wins of juniors ages 10-15. These wins extend across the Sneds Tour, the Mid-South Golf Series, and other juniors tours across the Southeast. Seeing so many of our juniors succeed in such a big way is something that we all celebrate!
Some of the events rolling out in 2021 include: weekly golf clinics for all ages and levels of experience, Junior Club Championship, Parent-Child Scramble, Golf Camp (June & July), PGA Jr. League, Grove Kids League, & The Junior Golf Winter Fitness Program.
If there are any programs that you are interested in or questions that you may have, please contact Hannah Skelley ([email protected]) or Jude Lenahan ([email protected]).
