Students learn fundamentals of golf

Local certified PGA professional John Hastie chipped in some expertise on June 1 to help develop the golf skills of some youth from around the Sudbury Catholic District School Board the Rainbow Board and Lively Golf and Country Club's junior golf program.

He provided free instruction at the Hwy. 69 Driving Range with help from several assistants. The instruction was focused mainly on safety, the golf grip, setup and take away.

Hastie is the golf pro at Lively Golf and Country Club.

For some the participants, this was the first time ever swinging a golf club, said Dan Bartolucci, education chair of the board of directors for the Canadian Youth Golf Alliance and a teacher at Marymount Academy.

“It was wonderful to see them involved with the CYGA outside of the classroom as part of the Golf Participation Program.”

Once every three weeks, youth from local school boards get together and discuss philosophies of life as part of the “Search for Self I” course in the CYGA's education program.

“Today, the focus was on the game of golf, and it was great to see some of the youth from Marymount's CYGA group stepping up and applying that same passion they do for education and directing it to learning about golf,” Bartolucci said.

Next up for the youth is a Mentorship Day on June 13, where one mentor will golf nine holes with three CYGA youth. This will include an information session held prior to the players teeing off, which will cover a variety of topics ranging from golf course etiquette to golf course culture.

To learn more about the CYGA, visit www.canadianyouthgolfalliance.com.