At Golf Monthly, we want to understand how everyone feels about the game at club level, from juniors and beginners to seniors and scratch golfers. For the sport to continue to grow, the environment needs to be inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
We recently ran a big junior golf survey – the results of which will be published soon – in an effort to understand how young golfers feel about the sport and club life in general.
While there were a number of encouraging responses about youngsters’ passion for the game, love of the sport and inclusivity at their respective clubs, more than a handful said they’d been made to feel unwelcome or like they don’t belong by an adult member or sections of the club membership.
Of the 45 survey respondents, 12 – more than 25% – said they’d had an unfavourable interaction or treatment from an older member or members. While a minority, this number is far too high – no one should be made to feel like that (with the caveat here that they’re behaving in the right way in the first place).
What’s pleasing is that all but three of the juniors questioned said they felt welcome and valued at their clubs, which suggests negative treatment is the exception and not the norm; likely the odd individual making an unnecessary comment or showing a lack of respect. However, multiple respondents highlighted issues with older members.
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
“Sometimes people aren’t very nice to juniors at my course and just look at me like I’m about to do something silly,” said one 13-year-old. “A lot of the time, four-balls of men and women will not let two juniors play through. They do not know the rules of slow play, but we are taught all the rules of golf at Suffolk under-14 training sessions.”
Another respondent, this time 12, shared many of the same sentiments. Of course, there are always two sides to every story, but the below doesn’t paint a positive picture in terms of junior treatment, adherence to etiquette and general respect for those around you.
“Older members are very dismissive of young players on the course. They will hold you up and sometimes be rude. It’s really annoying as me and my friends are all low-single-figure players and understand how to behave. Older members would never let juniors through on the course,” said the 12-year-old.
“Adult members tend to dismiss juniors no matter what their handicap or golfing ability. I was playing recently in a three-ball – I was the worst player in the group with a handicap of 4. Yet some older members held us up so much that we stopped after nine holes. They could tell we were good players, yet they kept us standing on every hole. This happens a lot.
“At one club I play at, if I’m out with my friends, I don’t feel very comfortable. Because you are young, adults seem to think they are better players and respect the rules more. Many adults’ etiquette and knowledge of rules is much worse than mine and my friends.”
The two comments above suggest a more widespread issue with sections of the membership. While I’m sure many adults are supportive of, and friendly towards, youngsters at those facilities, the above doesn’t make for fantastic reading.
In other replies, juniors highlighted specific issues with individuals.
“After just finishing an 18-hole competition, an elderly member asked where my white socks were as it didn't look very good and told me to get white ones,” said one 11-year-old. While this doesn’t seem overly fierce on paper, the fact it’s stuck in the memory suggests the interaction could have been handled in a more friendly manner.
“Once I was playing with a nasty woman who kept making rude comments even though she was worse than me,” said one 13-year-old – something also experienced by someone else the same age.
“I was playing in a juniors’ scramble and the lady I was playing with hit her driver 70 yards. She wasn't very good. When I hit a good shot onto the green, she missed her putt and said 'If you'd hit it closer then maybe I would have got it in”.
There’s a huge amount of positive work being done at golf clubs all over the world in terms of encouraging, nurturing and supporting junior players. But sadly, some adult members treating youngsters as inferior continues to be a more widespread problem than it should be. We all have the right to equal treatment.
