Michigan Golf Journal April 2020

By Greg Johnson Michigan Golf Journal Junior Golf Just over four years ago Kyle Wolfe, the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) staff member who directs junior golf tournaments, noticed a young golfer at a tournament scoreboard attempting to figure out just where she stood against the other golfers in her age group. “She looked lost and I said to myself ‘what are we doing?’ We had all the scores grouped together instead of by age group, and it was clearly a nightmare to try and figure it out,” Wolfe said. “It wasn’t really meeting the needs of this junior golfer, or the others for that matter.” Fast forward: Wolfe now makes sure age groups are clearly defined on GAM scoreboards and has urged changes that involve more age-group definition and competition. In 2020 the GAM plans to present and administer six junior championships, including special age group play, and hopefully conduct three United States Golf Association qualifiers for national junior championships. “Junior golf is important to me, but also to the game and the GAM,” Wolfe said, adding that noticing that young golfer at the scoreboard fed into a significant part of the GAM’s mission with young golfers. “One of the main things we have done in the last four years is really try to listen to our customers, the golfers and their parents,” he said. “Much of what we have done and changed comes GAM: Making Junior Golf More Accessible