It was an eventful weekend at The Woodford Club. Some of the best PGA Junior golfers stepped out onto our course to compete in the PGA Junior League Regional Qualifier.
At The Woodford Club, PGA Certified Professional, Bob Baldassari has already created a growing program with the youth here in central Kentucky. The growth and success from the The Woodford Club’s PGA Junior League teams is a part of what helped get the event here.
“I reached out to my former colleagues running PGA Jr. League and expressed my strong desire to have TWC be included for a future regional qualifying site, but I thought that might take a couple years,” Baldassari said.
He said the program already in place here put The Woodford Club on the right track for consideration for the prestigious regional event, which only a handful of clubs across the country have the honor of hosting.
“Our golf course layout and playability are a perfect fit for this type of golf event, plus the member and staff culture of TWC embracing youth golf events made the decision to bring the PGA Jr. League Regional Qualifier here an overwhelming success,” he said.
Baldassari helped create the national youth golf program over the years while he worked for PGA of America.
“When I was Director of Youth Golf Development for PGA of America, I was tasked with a major national initiative by then CEO Joe Steranka: Create a "Little League of baseball for golf." The initial couple of years for getting this program up and running with PGA Professional support was some heavy lifting,” Baldassari said. "A lot of people and PGA Pros didn't understand the reach and seismic shift in growing youth golf that this team golf format brought to the game and business of golf.”
Although a lot has changed over the years, and he’s seen more growth in the sport, it’s still a full circle moment to see a tournament like this here at The Woodford Club. After helping get the program up and running, he described the moment as surreal.
“We started in 2011 with less than 100 kids, and now there are over 70,000 kids playing PGA Jr. League! It feels great to have played a part in developing a multi-generational national program, and directly growing this youth golf program that has impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids and parents.”
As incredible as it is to see such a successful tournament right on our own greens, Balassari said it’s seeing these children improve throughout their golfing career that makes it so special.
“What continues to impress me about PGA Jr. League is really the same things that I witnessed when we started this program: The joy of playing "team" golf for the kids, the mentoring you see between the older kids with the younger or smaller kids, and the emotions of the parents as their kids embrace the game of golf and make lifelong friends.”
