Play along · 02
About 6–11
Golf is a Saturday they still want. A league, $5 holes, 9 with you. Not a tour calendar.
A week on this rung
2–3 weeknights
2 evenings after soccer / practice. 15 minutes. Putting games or a towel in the yard. League night counts as one of them.
The weekend
Family 9 from a tee they reach. Youth on Course if you can get a $5 time. PGA Jr. League if that’s the Saturday.
You, this week
UL7 in the right 3-inch band. Five clubs if they mostly range; seven if they walk 9. Replace when they grow. That’s the whole equipment plan.
Putting games and a towel. One 9 a week beats a bucket. How we practice → Under 8 or 8–12, just picking it up / can finish 9.
Putting · 8 min · House
A coin, a putter that is not taller than their chest, two pieces of tape as a gate.
Roll the ball through the gate so it stops on the coin. Five in a row, they pick the snack.
When the face gets serious. You already won.
Putting · 10 min · House
Same putter length as them. A mug or a tape cup. You go first — they copy your putt.
Miss and you get a letter. First to H-O-R-S-E carries the bag to the car. Make it, they have to make the same one.
One game. Do not play until somebody cries.
Putting · 10 min · Course
A bath towel covering the cup so they cannot ‘make’ it. Putter that fits.
Lag it onto the towel from 10–20 feet. Landing on the towel is a birdie. Missing the towel is a bogey. First to three birdies.
They will want the hole back. Not today. Speed first.
Up & down · 10 min · Backyard
A bath towel on the grass, foam balls, one short club.
Land it on the towel. Count loud. Race you.
Twenty balls, max. Leave them wanting the towel tomorrow.
Up & down · 10 min · Course
Just off the green. Putter only. A tee as the ‘hole’ if the green is busy.
Bump it through the fringe. Closest to the hole wins the hole. Play five holes around one green.
If they grab a wedge, the putter police take over. This shot exists so they don’t skull it.
The rest · 25 min · Course
A par-3 or the practice green as three made-up holes.
They tee it. You carry the bag. No swing tips. Ask which flag they want next.
Hole three, even if they beg for four — especially if they beg for four.
Protect the love of it. You are the tee-time and the snack. Not a ranking secretary.
Skip individual tournaments until they ask twice. Skip U.S. Kids Worlds because a cousin went. Skip a 14-club bag.