When your child is ready to play, hire a golf pro, or put your child in a summer golf camp. You do not want your acquired quirks to be theirs. We enrolled our son in a 6 week summer golf camp. He thrived. They had classes in discipline and history of the game taught each morning for two hours, then they hit the driving range and putting green and practice traps for some stroke practice. They were allowed to head out to the course only after the golf pro gave them a positive report card on their behavior and their strokes. This was normally about two weeks into the program and then only the last two hours of their afternoon. As the kids were released to walk the course, it was in groups of three and with supervisors monitoring their play and behaviors such as replacing divots, raking the sand, etc.

I usually picked him up after it was over and we would head out to play four or six holes depending on time, daylight and energy. Since I had spoken with the pro I knew what he stressed and reinforced those rules with an added one of my own. . ."Do not throw or bang your club! It is dangerous and shows bad manners. If you bang your club, we will leave the course immediately." Only once did I have to use this reminder. He banged the club after a badly hit shot and when he got in the cart, I just turned the cart, without a word and headed back to the clubhouse. He immediately asked where are we going, to which I told him to think about what he had just done and he would know the answer. We never discussed it further.

It was a golden summer. I learned more about our son on those late afternoons then at any other time of his life. We discussed his dreams, his classes, his problems, his friends, etc. Many years later, a dear friend whose children grew up playing tennis with he and his wife, said, "I wish I had taken up golf earlier in life and taught my kids golf, because I have learned more about all of them during this golfing experience than I ever did at tennis because I can talk while we play." Don't spend your time criticizing their game. Let their golf pro do that unless asked a specific question. Enjoy the opportunity to share your experiences and display the same behavior you expect your child to display. Your can't complain about their not replacing a divot if you haven't done the same yourself.

Suggestions for younger kids, let them putt in your balls on the green to start. Don't make them tee off on the mound. Depending on their size

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