Play/Golf

Play/Golf
by guest blogger Lars J. Hanson

KTUGA's number one goal is to get children excited about playing golf. We believe that joy of the sport, of the experience, is what commits children to golf. Nothing makes us happier than seeing students empowered by their successes in our program!

This Thanksgiving season we are supremely thankful for having jobs where we get to do this everyday.

We are equally thankful when parents like Lars tell us how much they understand and appreciate the totality of our approach. One Saturday during class, Lars shared with Kate his appreciation for her technique. His feedback made Kate's heart sing so we asked him to write this blog.

Thank you Lars! Thank you KTUGA students!

Happy Thanksgiving from the entire KTUGA team.
Kate, Mari, Christy, Buddy, Eben, Deborah, Val, Gina Gr., Gina Go., Wally, Krystal


Play/Golf

When I watch my son Graydon play golf with Kate Tempesta’s Urban Golf Academy, I see a child immersed in the lessons and flow of Play.

KTUGA offers a change of pace and place from the golf course and the driving range. Playing with a golf ball that doesn't travel all that far to begin with (or might even look more like a napkin ring) means that the focus won't be on how far the ball was hit. Rather, the focus can be on how the ball was hit.

Playing golf in Central Park and not at a golf course means that Graydon is engaging his imagination as he devises the par level and creates the course.
Expectations that usually come with playing on a golf course or at a driving range are not really applicable because the usual pressures are not there when “playing to learn” with KTUGA.

I also appreciate how Graydon’s confidence thrives when he is designing a golf course in Central Park. He is having fun while he makes choices about the obstacles and the par level, refining his technique as he plays the course he has just created.

Because Graydon has been playing golf for three years, sometimes it is easy for me to forget that Graydon is only eight years old. And guess what? Eight year-olds enjoying playing!

Kate really gets that about kids and golf and that is the primary focus of KTUGA’s curriculum and how the entire team teaches/plays golf. When Graydon turned 7 we approached Kate to lead a Birthday Party for Graydon and a number of his friends.

Graydon and his friends had a blast in the gymnasium because the party wasn't all about golf. Games incorporating balance and ball trajectory were mixed in amidst running, leaping and a scavenger hunt.

I have always been grateful to KTUGA because they understand the invaluable role that Play serves in teaching the fundamentals of Golf to beginners and youngsters. Graydon loves his lessons with KTUGA, is steadily improving as a golfer and I am most certain he is hooked for life.

-Lars Hanson