Golf Day in Alberta
Any day you can get kids on the golf course is a good day. That’s the theory behind ATB Financial Golf Day in Alberta, which sees Canadian Tour pros visit Alberta communities every summer to show children the lay of the links.
In July 2009, golfers from Canada, the U.S., Thailand, Australia and Serbia visited 11 cities and towns in all corners of Alberta to conduct junior golf clinics for young duffers aged six to 15. The goal is to instill a love of the game in Alberta youngsters who dream of becoming the next Mike Weir – or our Nationwide star Dustin Risdon! -- and to expand the profile of some of the Canadian Tour’s unsung heroes.
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Kaleigh's story
Hi, my name is Kaleigh Taschuk. I’m nine and I’ve been golfing for three years. This is how I spent my Golf Day in Alberta!
My mom took me to a Junior Clinic at the Camrose Golf Course. We got free hats and lessons from golf pros. My first instructor was Bill Penny, a golf pro from Camrose. He gave us some tips on pitching. Here he is showing me how to hold my club just right in this picture.
Bill put a club down on the ground to show me how to aim. He said the trick is to make sure my club is straight to the target where I want to hit the ball.
We got to hit a lot of practice balls.
Next we got to hear some tips about putting. The instructor was showing us that a putter swings like a clock.
I think the most important thing is that you should be careful not to putt too hard when the green goes downhill. Then your ball will go too fast and miss the hole.
Our instructor showed us some drills to practice for putting. It was a lot of fun! If we sunk most of our balls we got to keep them. Then before our time was up, we got to try a long putt. Mine didn’t go in but I was close.
Our last part of the clinic was on driving. My mom had to help me carry my clubs.
That's golf pro, Darren Griff. He’s from B.C. He told me to watch my target foot when I swing and to keep it on the ground all the time. I kept forgetting so he got down on the ground and held it for me. It made a really big difference!
This was my group with the other pros Scott Ford and Scott Howley. It was easy to remember their names! That’s how I spent Golf Day in Alberta.
