The Times

Weekend of May 29/30, 1976 TIMES/GUIDE 19

sports roundup Golf pro says kids need few lessons

ERICA MEYER Staff Writer Children need a little professional advice when they start playing golf, but not a lot. Mostly, they need the desire to play and a few basic lessons in etiquette and techniqcue. That's Pete Donnelly's advice and he knows what he's talking about. He's a golf professional. Donnelly lives on Minorca in Coral Gables, jogs nightly around the Granada Golf Course and spends his days as the golf pro at Costa del Sol in Northwest Dade. "My feelings are a little unusual," Donnelly warns. "Kids should not be pushed. They should show an interest on their own." "They need some instruction from a professional, but not a whole lot. They need lessons just in the beginning to tell them about etiquette, which is even more important than their ability." Donnelly sees golf "as a sport, not a game." He states "behavior matters, like courtesy to other golfers, taking care of the course and the equipment. It's also dangerous if children aren't told how to behave; they can get hurt." Donnelly says that golf is a sport for both boys and girls and that a child should start learning golf, but adds "there are, of course, exceptions. The kid should have a mature outlook. "If children are forced into playing by their parents, there is resentment. If they want to play on their own, they will be better golfers and they will stay with golf," he said. Children need to be taught the basics, but they don't need constant tutelage. In terms of equipment, Donnelly warns parents "not to go out and buy whole outfits of clubs and shoes. Then if the kid doesn't use them, parents say 'but I spent all that money.' There are alternatives, he states. "Any pro will let a kid borrow clubs for lessons. You have to make sure he has ability and that he wants to play. A kid should spend a lot of time at first on the driving range, developing some degree of consistency and accuracy." He recommends clinics (his daughter, Jill, a Ponce Junior High School ninth grader is taking a Youth Center course now) and says team and league participation are "terrific." There is special equipment available for young golfers but Donnelly advises "get a professional to help you select equipment. "You can get an old set of clubs for $25 and add new grips for $15 and then you have a set for $40 that a kid can learn with. "I had some hand-me-down clubs to grow into," Donnelly remembered. "I caddied as a kid and finally got enough money to buy a set of woods. "I really appreciated those clubs. Now I get clubs for nothing and I don't really appreciate them," he said. When a parent brings a child to Donnelly and says, "Here, teach my kid to play golf" what does the pro do? "Well," he said, "most kids are inexperienced at golf. They are nervous. You have to get their confidence, get them to relax and ready to learn. They can't be afraid or confused. "You let their natural talent, which kids are fantastic at, go to work and do a few fundamentals with them." "That's why a whole lot of lessons aren't good," Donnelly said. "Once they get the fundamentals they can go on their own for a couple of years with periodic lessons in between. The golfing fundamentals he starts with are grip, stance, allignment and balance. "Eighty per cent of golf Pete Donnelly ... etiquette important mistakes begin before you swing the club," Donnelly said. "Most kids, if they could get the grip, would do well. But they tend to do what's a comfortable and this is where you have to show them how to do it right and that's why they should start off with lessons." Pete stresses not pushing kids into playing golf. His son, Peter, a Gables High sophomore, doesn't play although he helps out at the clubhouse. "He's hit a few balls around," Donnelly says. "He'll play when he wants to." "I have seen 10, 11, and 12-year-olds that were super. But they weren't super by accident. They were super because they had proper instruction and because they wanted to get better at golf so they worked at it. It's not age, it's attitude," he said. Donnelly also tells parents not to bring children along just to ride the carts and watch their folks play. "The golf course is not a place to babysit. Kids will want to drive the carts and they will get in the way," he predicted. "I can't tell you the amount of damage to carts, people, equipment and golf courses I've seen." Locally, he feels Granada is a good course for beginners because it doesn't threaten with water hazards and it isn't heavily sand trapped. He also recommends Granada because the fairways don't double back on each other, so there is less chance of a kid hitting a shot he can't find or being hit by a ball from another fairway. "As a kid gets a little better, he'll want to challenge and will want to try different courses," Donnelly stated.

Big summer program planned at Gables High

From body-building to twilight baseball, the athletic fields at Coral Gables High School will be active all summer as part of the annual Kotys program, named after Gables High coach Nick Kotys. Beginning Thursday, June 17 at 8:30 a m., a nine week summer and recreation program for scholastic credit will be held. The City of Coral Gables will sponsor an eight-week non-credit program from June 21 to Aug. 13. The credit program starts at 8:30 a.m. and goes until 2:30 p.m. It is open to all students beyond the sixth grade. The non-credit program runs from 2:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Classes will include team and individual activities like gymnastics, baseball, ping pong, badminton, weightlifting, basketball, tether ball, tennis and soccer. Body-building will be open to boys in the seventh grade and above. There will be a junior basketball league from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and an adult basketball league to 9 p.m. Twilight baseball leagues for junior and senior high school students will be held daily. For information, call Coral Gables Senior High, 443-4871.

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