Kidding around : Junior golf season concludes at Fayetteville CC

By David Showers

Posted: July 29, 2009 at 6:44 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — Tuesday mornings during the summer are reserved for Fayetteville Country Club's junior golfers.

Tuesday was the culmination of almost two months of play as the club hosted its annual junior golf championship. Thirty-one boys and girls, ranging in age from fourth grade to junior high, put their pegs in the ground with hopes of winning their respective age divisions. Prizes were awarded for low gross and low net performances.

Jodi Stafford, who oversees the program along with Laura Underwood, said junior golf has remained a fixture at FCC. Many of Tuesday's participants are children of parents who also played junior golf at FCC.

"It just always has been," Stafford said of the club's long-running junior program, which boasted 50 players this summer. "I started junior golf when I was going into fourth grade. And a lot of the kids here, their parents played junior golf up here. It teaches them a lot. It teaches them respect for others, respect for the course and manners."

The program's youngest girls played two four-hole rounds. The intermediate-age girls played two six-hole rounds, and the oldest girls played two nine-hole rounds. Both rounds were contested on the same holes.

The youngest boys in the program played two eight-hole rounds, and the oldest played two nine-hole rounds. Like the girls, the boys played both rounds on the same holes. The oldest boys played the front nine twice, and the youngest played the back twice, excluding the 15th hole.

All the players entered Tuesday's competition with a handicap derived from their average score during each week of play. The junior golf program begins in early June.

Players are not responsible for keeping score. That duty falls to parents, who supervise play. A parent trails each group and tallies the scores. If enough parents aren'tavailable, the program has older children shadow the players.

When Stafford takes over the program next year, she said she plans to add an 18-hole division for high school-age players. She also hopes to include younger players. This year the youngest age division was for players entering the fourth grade.

Ramsey Jones turned in the lowest nine-hole round Tuesday, shooting 3-over 39 from a forward tee on FCC's outward half. He birdied the par 5 first hole and didn't make a score worse than bogey.

His 39 was followed by a 44 on his second turn through the front nine, giving him the low 18-hole aggregate of 83. Luke Renner and Brent Underwood also broke 90, respectively carding an 86 and an 87.

Sports, Pages 9, 10 on 07/29/2009

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