Virginia Golfer Jul / Aug 2017 | Page 36

Growing the Game Passion Play Above: Gavin Parker leads a small group at Independence Golf Club. Below, a look at the Operation 36 badge system. Operation 36 puts a charge in junior instruction by GAVIN PARKER T 34 V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | J U LY / A U G U ST 2 0 1 7 he purpose of the Robins Junior Academy is to provide a golf development plan for your junior golfer to take them as far as they want in the sport. So what makes the Robins program different? The academy, which is hosted and supported by Inde- pendence Golf Club, uses the Operation 36® framework to structure the program. It consists of coaching, play- ing, and training programs and is designed to teach golf- ers to play the game from a hole-out perspective. Each golfer will be issued a profile in the Operation 36 mobile app to track progress through a six-level curriculum that is designed to set appropriate objectives and challenge each student towards shooting par or better (score of 36) for nine holes. Unlike most traditional golf camps or clinics, where juniors attend for just a week and do not play again until the next summer, our students are required to see us once a week for six months. To graduate from the acad- vsga.org