DIFFERENT STROKES From left: Jordan, Coach Scoggins, Alex. Opposite: Grace. Below: Jordan, Coach and James.
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t the advanced age of 12, Luka Karaulic is a two-year veteran of PGA Junior League Golf (PGA JLG). “My first year, I was the youngest kid on the team,” he says. Luka plans to play again this year and next. “It is lots of fun. I love this team golf thing, because I have made friendships for a lifetime.” Apparently, Luka has a lot of company. When Luka’s coach, Chuck Scoggins, the teaching pro at Hamilton Mill Golf Club, got the call from PGA JLG asking him to form a team, he was standing by the club’s practice green. Chuck held out the phone and shouted, “How many of you guys want to play in a league with other teams?” The response was loud, large and highly charged. “We could have immediately fielded several teams,” he says. Hamilton Mill, just outside Atlanta, had a head start. Several years earlier, they created their own in-house team competition. Modeled after Little League, each team had a high school golfer as a coach as well as a team parent. There was little instruction. The goal was to get beginners on the course in a friendly, low-pressure environment. As Chuck explains, “Sometimes the best approach with kids is to just let them play.” Multiply this spirited fun by 23—the number of Georgia-based Canongate Clubs that got into the action last summer. Add on a few more teams from Texas, and the concept seems downright contagious. “The program really took off last year,” says Jeff Ginther, Canongate’s regional manager. “We had 280 kids playing last summer, and we’ve also created our own developmental-type league for the fall.”
Jeff sees his 11-year-old son, Andrew, as a case in point. “My son’s interest in golf increased exponentially,” he says. “Now he comes home, straps on his golf bag and walks over to the range.” PGA JLG is a refinement of the team scramble. Uniforms up the cool quotient and flags and substitutions add to the fun, participation and team spirit. Scoggins’ Hamilton Mill team went on to win the 2011 National Championship and finished second in 2012, and Chuck was recently named Team Captain of the Year for 2012, an honor awarded to him by Davis Love III. Team parent Melanie Walton describes it this way: “Golf is a great sport for boys and girls, but it can be a lonely sport. My son has met so many other boys through this program. He continues to keep in touch with them as golf partners and friends.” Grace Choi was the only girl on last year’s tournament team. “I can’t hit off the tee as far as most of the guys, but I really contributed with my short game.
The Road to the Junior League National Championship
? Form a team, get started at pgajrleaguegolf.com ? Local teams participate in end-of-season tournament ? All-star teams are chosen from local tournaments ? All-star teams compete for regional championship ? Regional champs plus host team compete at national tournament ? Each team plays three head-to-head competitions ? Team with most points is the national champ
PGA JUNIOR LEAGUE GOLF BY THE NUMBERS
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I CAN’T HIT OFF THE TEE AS FAR AS MOST OF THE GUYS, BUT I REALLY CONTRIBUTED WITH MY SHORT GAME.”
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cost per golfer; varies by team
It was really fun playing with different teammates and against different teams.” Grace also enjoys the travel and variety. “People were really nice and friendly. No one was quiet or shy. In the