Florida Golf Magazine, Kissimmee Bay Country Club,
and Wally Armstrong make a grass roots effort.

          When Resa Sandora, called Florida Golf Magazine and told us about the City of Kissimmee’s free program for “Kids With Special Needs”, we were impressed with her dedication. In an e-mail that followed, Mrs. Sandora, a volunteer with the program, wrote:

“Dear Florida Golf Magazine,
          Here's some more information about our group. “We are the Kids’ Club, operated under the City of Kissimmee Parks and Recreation Department. We are a free program open to any child with special needs and their siblings.
          Currently we meet with the kids at least twice a month. We focus on providing a safe fun environment, where children with special needs and their siblings can play and have fun. The parents are required to stay on site, and most stay in the room. This allows me to supervise and direct, without being the only care provider present.
          I see my role as exposing the kids to a variety of recreation and leisure activities. This past week we went out onto the tennis courts with some golf clubs, brooms, frisbees and wiffle balls. We practiced hitting the balls, sometimes with golf swings. I also introduced them to the idea of frisbee golf. We are in the process of scheduling a date to go play miniature golf.
          We would love to have some golfing folk(s) provide some coaching, and give the kids a chance to experience a portion of the sport, with little or none of the pressure. At least one of my regular attendees is very interested in pursuing golf as an interest. For most of the others, it may just be a one time experience. It would be great if those students interested could participate in next year’s Florida Open Tournament for Golfers with Disabilities, - maybe as a relay team.
          We meet on every other Friday evening from 6-8. We can schedule special outings at other times if need be.
Thank you for your interest. I look forward to working with you. - Resa Sandora”

          Florida Golf Magazine contacted Mrs. Sandora, and planned an event, so this special group of kids and their siblings, could visit a real golf course, and get an introduction to the game of golf. Mrs. Sandora told us that keeping the kids attention for an extended period of time might be an issue. With that in mind, we determined that we would only have about two hours to introduce the kids to golf. In order to make sure our program was fun for the kids we decided to use the SNAG^TM plastic clubs, tennis balls and velcro targets the National School Golf Program uses with children between the ages of five and eleven.

Snag^TM clubs are bright colored plastic and Snag^TM balls are simular to brightly colored tennis balls. The colors help to kep the interest of the smaller children. The durable Snag^TM tee is called a "Launching Pad"
The SNAGTM golf equipment has also gained fans among PGA of America club professionals.

          The SNAG^TM golf equipment has also gained fans among PGA of America club professionals. Marc Solomon, director of the Golf Made Simple Golf Academy at South Hampton GC, St. Augustine was quoted as saying, “I think SNAG^TM is perfect for the job. It’s colorful and it’s easy to hit, making it instant fun for little kids and getting their attention. It’s so promising for the game, so interesting for the kids. I like its system of teaching the golf grip with ‘right hand on red, left hand on yellow.’”
          Toni Kellerman, a physical education teacher at Ketterlinus School in St. Augustine, once a single digit handicap player, had a golf program in her school for two years before the NSGP came along.
          “I used regular clubs and rubber balls, plastic balls, anything that would work,” she said. Some people were afraid somebody would get hurt, even though the kids were very careful. SNAG^TM is so much better, because we can get down to the level of the kindergarten age. Kids who had hit real clubs objected to the SNAG^TM clubs before they tried them, but then became excited after using them.”

“Now the kids in the program will be able to play golf where ever and whenever they want.”

          Florida Golf Magazine donated two dozen SNAG irons and putters to Kissimmee’s Special Needs Program, and then contacted the owner of the Kissimmee Bay Country Club and helped organize an event to introduce the game to the kids.
          Jason Carol, accepted the donation on behalf of the City of Kissimmee and said to us, “Now the kids in the program will be able to play golf wherever and whenever they want.”
          Kissimmee Bay CC’s management not only volunteered their facility but provided a free lunch for all the attendees, their parents and siblings.
          Then, Kissimmee Bay set up a miniature 3-hole golf course for the kids, which surrounded the clubhouse and encompassed the club’s practice putting green, their practice chipping green and a (100 yard) miniature par five hole. Many of the parents watched the kids play from the shade of the clubhouse’ back patio.
          We contacted Wally Armstrong, the founder and inventor of SNAG^TM golf equipment. When we told him about our project with the Kissimmee program he jumped at the chance to help. He generously donated 100 multi-color SNAG^TM balls, SNAG^TM targets, SNAG^TM flagsticks and SNAG^TM teeing Launch Pads and flags. Then to top it off, Wally also volunteered his time to personally help us instruct the kids.
          Wally Armstrong’s teaching experience proved invaluable to our program and the special needs kids. He helped set up the course and organized the instruction.

Jason Carol, the Recreation Supervisor for the City of Kissimmee Parks & Recreation Department and Wally Armstrong are shown here introducing the kids to putting.

The importance of knowing how to putt was emphasized first.

          Armstrong set up the targets on a portion of Kissimmee Bay’s giant practice putting green. Then he yelled out to the kids, “Who wants to play a game?” Hopping up and down with excitement, the kids all replied, “I do, I do!” He had them hooked already. He taught each child how to putt the balls toward the targets. “We have to make a game out of putting, to get them interested in playing golf”, he said. “The numbers on the velcro putting targets are an important ingredient. The kids like to keep score. Even at this level, the putting becomes a competitive thing. They count up their points. They also learn that the green, although smooth, is not completely level. There are breaks in some of the putts and they don’t all go the same way.”
          After all of the children had a chance to practice putting, Wally held a dollar bill up in the air and shouted out, “Who wants to win a dollar?” Once again the kids all eagerly replied, “I do, I do!”
          Still holding the dollar in plain site Wally said, “OK, here’s how we will play this game. Everyone will get five putts at the target. The kid that gets the highest total score wins the dollar.” That’s when the competition really got serious. Every child did their absolute best on every putt. A nine year old girl from Poinciana Elementary School won the dollar with a total score of 35 points.

This putting contest for a dollar was a serious competition to these young golfers. The dollar bill is visible under the orange ball beneath the flag on the left.

After the putting contest was over, Wally shouted out, “Now who wants to play golf?” Once again the kids all shouted, “I do, I do!” The kids were split into two teams to play a scramble format, the boys against the girls.           Hole #1 (pictured at right), was a 40 yard par 3, set up on the giant practice green in front of the Kissimmee Bay clubhouse. The brightly colored rope is there to desinate the putting surface. The young golfer pictured here is shown chipping onto the putting surface while being cheered on by his friends.

Hole#2 (pictured at left), was a long 100 yard par 5, set up between Kissimmee Bay Country Club’s practice putting green and their practice chipping green. Members inside the clubhouse watched the kids from every window.               Hole #3 (pictured below), was a short 25 yard par 3, set up on Kissimmee Bay Country Club’s practice chipping green. The young golfer pictured here is shown chipping his blue SnagTM ball toward the green.

The kids played nine holes over the three-hole course with every child experiencing teeing off, chipping and putting for a score.           At the end of play, congratulations were passed out to each participant. All of the kids joyfully exclaimed they had a wonderful time. What can you do to help grow the game?           Growing the game is a grass roots issue that every golfer should be interested in promoting. Making the introductory process less intimidating for beginners, grows the game. Wally Armstrong’s techniques and SNAGTM golf equipment certainly make the learning process easier for kids. Getting involved with these kinds of programs as Kissimmee Bay Country Club did is something every golf course could do. What can you do to help grow the game?