New River Wilds Golf Club Director of Instruction Joel Waters' audience was on the young side July 19.
The Blair course's Jr. Golf Camp ran from July 18 through Thursday with ages six through 16 welcome to take part for a fee.
“I love working with junior golfers,” Waters said. “I love teaching people how to play golf — how to enjoy this great game.”
The Laurens, Iowa, native went to Mississippi State University during the 1990s and studied professional golf management. He then worked as a pro, leaving the golf business in 2009 before returning this past year.
“I've always had a passion for teaching the game of golf and this gave me an opportunity to come out and just help out on a part-time basis,” Waters said.
His goal during the Jr. Camp was to introduce youngsters to the basics.
“Golf is a little different from other sports in the fact that it's not so easy-access,” the instructor said. “So, we want them to feel welcome out here. We want them to have fun and just really teach them the basics because this is a game of a lifetime.”
Waters doesn't want to limit himself to teaching kids at River Wilds, though. Director of golf Sam Jonell, the course and he are putting plans together to do more.
“We're trying to create some player-development programs,” Waters said. “This is obviously geared toward juniors, but we also want to help individual golfers with player development and game development. We want to try to help all populations of people to come out, learn the game and improve at whatever level they come to us with.”
He wants to work with kids, adults just starting out and those who play competitively.
“My goal, right now, is to really help players around the community to have a place they can come and learn and enjoy the game,” Waters said.
Big Cup Tourney and more
Beyond the youth camp, it was a busy weekend at River Wilds Golf Club.
Blair Wrestling hosted its annual Four-Person Golf Scramble fundraiser Friday before the Big Cup Tournament — a two-person scramble — on Saturday.
On Aug. 5, River Wilds will host the fourth annual Ladies Golf Tournament, too. The Hawaii-themed event starts at 9 a.m.
