Golf Match #1

Amazing.  That's all I can say about Camden's first golf match.  It is played in a scramble format with three kids on each team competing against each other.  They play nine holes which is broken down into 3 hole segments.  They rotate two kids playing at a time for each segment.  So each child should play 6 holes.  For each segment, whichever team won the most holes gets a point.  Each team, therefore, can earn up to 3 points for their overall team total.  Confusing?  It's really simple once it's explained well!

Her team is green.  They are provided a shirt and bag tag as part of the Jr. PGA.

After some last minute coaching, introductions, and handshakes with the other team, they were off.  Camden played the first three holes.

 

The West Lafayette team we played only had 9 players, so we only had 3 groups, rather than the normal 4.  So Camden was on a team of 4 players.  She and one boy only played 3 holes and two other boys played 6.  There is no coaching from adults, but the kids can help each other.  Let me tell you, it was beautiful to witness.

She teed off first and had a nice hit.  It went forward, not as far as she would have liked, but it was a good first go.

Her teammate Carson was an excellent player.  Nolan was also in this group along with Gabe.  Gabe took Camden under his wing and helped her stay connected.  He walked with her throughout the entire 9 holes and treated her like an equal.  He is in 7th grade and tall for his age (#11).   All three of these boys were encouraging and accepting of her.  Parents on both sides of the game were incredible and supportive.

She was "done" after her three holes, but we made her walk the rest of the time with her teammates and cheer them on.  We could take her clubs once she was done, she could ride the cart with us in between holes, and come over to us for water, but we made her walk all but the last hole.  She sat down more than we would have liked, but she really did fantastic.  Again I credit Gabe for a lot of the inclusion of her to keep her going.

Of the three holes, she made the final putt on one of them, and they used her drive on another.  Her group won all three segments of their holes, scoring 3 points for the Crawfordsville Country Club (CCC) team.  Very exciting for a newbie!