2001 Leo Feser Award candidate

It's a warm Wednesday morning. The sun is just starting to peek over the horizon. The superintendent is busy making sure the daily chores are well under way, while the clubhouse staff prepares for the day's events and the golf professionals discuss their plans. The golf course, though still lacking golfers, is active with preparation for what some might assume is a golf tournament. But it's just another day in the life of the city of Cedar Rapids golf department's junior golf program.

As the director of golf course operations for the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I oversee the maintenance and clubhouse operations of four municipal courses that host 200,000 rounds a year. As the former superintendent for three of the four courses, I know what it takes to maintain quality courses; however, in my current role, I have the opportunity to see the bigger picture. It has been an eye-opening experience.

If someone would have told me four and a half years ago that I would be talking to people about junior golf and be excited about it, I don't know if I would have believed them.

During this 30-minute session, kids learn about putting, chipping and driving. The golf professionals designed a six-week program for the city of Cedar Rapids golf department's junior golf program.

Building a better program
After becoming director of golf, one of the first things I tackled was our junior golf program. Although I'm proud of many of our accomplishments, improving this program is perhaps our most outstanding achievement. I have five children of my own, and I wanted to make sure they all had the chance to learn to love the game I have held so near and dear to my heart.

When we began, we had four junior programs -- one at each course, with a total enrollment of 88 kids -- hardly enough participants for our golf professionals to take time away from their busy schedules. The Cedar Rapids metropolitan area has a population of about 120,000, and we knew that more kids interested in golf had to be out there. Furthermore, the citizens of cedar Rapids were starting to complain that there were not enough activities for the kids during the summer months. We thought, "Why not golf? Where else are you going to teach a child discipline and have a safe environment to do it in?"

So, my adventure began.

After Cedar Rapids redesigned its junior golf program to reduce costs and improve course accessibility, registration soared from 88 kids to more than 300 in the first year and more than 400 the next year.

I asked our golf pros to assemble some type of program that would last about six weeks. This timeline would take the kids to the beginning of August, leaving enough time for family vacations and other activities. The staff was great. It definitely pays to have knowledgeable PGA professionals and GCSAA superintendents on staff.

The staff decided to pull all four programs onto one centrally located course for accessibility. It just happens that the course we chose is one of the busiest in the state, hosting 70,000 rounds a year. The professional staff suggested a program that would allow the youth one-hour group lessons on Tuesday mornings, and then we would try to work them onto the course Wednesday mornings to play.

The staff suggested a price tag of about $50. Although this is a great value, I could not accept it. I thought of my five boys at home, started doing the math and quickly realized this fee would not work. Instead I countered with a $25 fee for each child, added a "no-charge" for those unable to pay and decided to close the entire course on Wednesday mornings so the children would not feel rushed.

I also convinced our city council to lower the cost of a junior season pass to promote the game to this age group. We lowered an already low $160 to a mere $125 and lifted all restrictions. Now the kids can play any of the four courses, any time of the week, any day of the year that we are open, for this one low price.

I know the staff had to think I was absolutely crazy. But instead of contradicting me, both the course superintendents and pros suggested that this would be an excellent opportunity to start teaching the kids about golf course etiquette--an issue we all believed was important. I knew at this point that we had quality individuals working for the golf department. The "team concept" was not merely a dream but a reality for us!

Concerns prove unfounded
I readily admit I was extremely nervous about a number of things. First, I was concerned about the reactions from the golf public. I was preparing myself for the backlash from shutting down the busiest course for the better part of a day. How about the lost revenue? Could the department handle it?

We also worried about how many kids would actually participate. If we still had only about 80 kids, then I would have made a huge mistake. Would I still have a job after all of this? All these questions were swarming in my head, but I took perhaps the biggest gamble of my career and went for it.

Yes, complaints started pouring in the minute senior golfers found out about the plan. I was taking away their prime time spots on Wednesday mornings. I reminded them that we had three other courses to play, and one morning a week for six weeks was not going to hurt them. Again, the golf professionals came through and really displayed their true colors when dealing with these irate golfers.

Then we started having fun! We had anticipated approximately 100 children the first year and had hoped to build on that in subsequent years. During our initial registration, we soon realized we had underestimated the need for affordable clinics. Instead of 100 kids in the inaugural year, more than 300 kids signed up.

Although the $25 registration fee multiplied by the number of kids was a substantial amount of money, something else happened that we hadn't anticipated. First, we lost absolutely no revenue because we learned that 95 percent of play on Wednesday mornings was by senior season-pass holders. Second, and perhaps the most important aspect, is that virtually every child walked into that clubhouse with at least $5 burning a hole in his or her pocket. On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings we would practically sell out of concessions. This may not seem like much, but it was a tremendous boost to our revenue.

The golf professionals start the lessons with the basics, including golf course etiquette. At this session, kids are learning how to properly pull the flag and put it back in the hole.

As the program continued the next year, we registered more than 400 children. We then faced a new dilemma. Many of these children did not have clubs, and their parents didn't want to invest in a cheap set until they were sure their children would enjoy the game. We approached a number of sponsors and received donations of clubs and balls.

For our end-of-the-year tournament, Pepsi-Cola donated soda; Dav-N-Rock (our local hot dog supplier) donated hot dogs and hamburgers for the grill; and our local chip distributor donated all the chips. The tournament went great. Throughout the season, Wilson Golf was a generous sponsor.

Safe rides home
We kept rolling along the next couple of years with approximately the same number of children, and all was going very well. The senior men were even getting involved by walking around with the kids. We did notice a fairly significant increase in our women golfers, as many moms who walked with their kids during this six-week adventure also decided it was time to learn the game.

You would think we would be satisfied, but we weren't. I wanted to add more to this program, but I couldn't think of anything. So what does every wise person do? We turn to our spouses.

I asked my wife what, for her, was the single most time-consuming aspect of our golf program and our kids' participation. She said that, although it was nice to be able to drop off the kids at the course, it was extremely difficult with her hectic schedule of working at home and caring for three boys, to be "on call," waiting for the other two boys to phone for a ride home. She said that sometimes they would finish in a couple of hours, but at other times it might take them as long as four hours. She said she couldn't imagine what mothers would do if they were working outside the home. Although she thought many parents could take 15 minutes to drop off their children, picking them up could be harder on their schedules.

Aha! Why not give the kids free rides home?

I approached our transit director and inquired about this type of program. He thought it was a great way to promote golf as well as the safety of using the city transit system. Thus, the program "Golf-N-Go" was born!

When a child finishes the round, all he or she has to do is go to the golf professional, get a ticket and walk out to the bus stop. Bus stops are within one city block of the courses. The child then hands the bus driver the ticket and rides to the bus stop nearest his or her home. Sometimes a child may have to transfer to another bus, but the drivers see these passes and readily help the children find the correct buses. Sometimes I think my boys go not to play golf, but to ride the bus!

The children are welcome to take their clubs with them on the bus as long as they do not take them out of the bags. We have received literally hundreds of thank-you calls or notes from parents. We promoted this by creating fliers to be distributed in all the grade schools in Cedar Rapids. It was a minor cost, but one we will never regret.

The children's excitement is evident as they enjoy their newfound sport.

A little help from friends
At this point, you would think we would be satisfied, but once again we weren't. We had just gone through a city election, and a new commissioner of parks and public property was elected. (The golf department falls under this person's jurisdiction.) His platform dealt a great deal with underprivileged children.

I started looking at our roster of youth and noticed we were not ethnically diverse. It appeared to me that many of these kids came from middle- to upper-income families. Our commissioner approached me one day and asked what we could do for underprivileged kids.

We started researching different ideas on how to get these kids involved. We found out that the USGA had a grant opportunity, and although I had never written a grant proposal before, I was game to try. I contacted the USGA and got the proper paperwork filled out, filed and sent in. I worked with a tremendous individual, Deken Palmer from the USGA, who was extremely helpful.

After sending in the grant proposal, I waited for what seemed like a million years. (It was actually a couple of months.) At last I got the phone call. Palmer informed me that the USGA was impressed with our program and that we were going to receive a $25,000 grant to outfit 100 underprivileged children with season passes and sets of clubs for the upcoming season. I was ecstatic!

My hope is that each child who receives this gift will earn the money for the following year's pass. A child who puts away just $10 a month for a year, will have saved enough to do this.

Some of you may wonder what this has to do with golf course superintendents. It plays a huge part in their lives. The superintendents working for our city have shown true appreciation for the opportunity to help mold these children. Our superintendents have created a safe environment for the youth to foster a love for their newfound sport. If not for the superintendents and the knowledge they possess to create attractive and fun courses, I can truthfully say that we would not have the same level of participation.

Although the kids enjoy the game, many, many parents have attended the sessions and commented that they come not only for their kids, but also because they love to take in the beauty of the course. The lessons also give us a chance to teach kids about the damage they can do if they are not responsible. What better time is there than at the very beginning of their golf life to instill the value of repairing a ball mark? When I see people out there actually having fun with these kids, it speaks volumes.

As I started out saying, if anyone would have told this turf-growing guy he would get excited about junior golf, I would have told them they were crazy. Now if anyone has an idea that sounds a little crazy, I just shut up and listen. We'll wait and see what this year brings.

Thomas K. Lavrenz, a five-year GCSAA member, is director of golf course operations for the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.