FROM THE TEE

The Future is Bright

Happy mid-summer, friends. For the 22nd consecutive year, I made a recruiting trip to the Future Masters in Dothan, Alabama. This tournament never disappoints. Young golfers from all over the world usually participate in this event, but sadly, due to COVID-19 and travel issues, there have not been as many participants these past couple of years. I spoke with Lee Williams, a local businessman who played the pro tour, a few days ago, and he remembered that something like 14 different countries were represented the year he won this championship. The level of talent that I witnessed in the 15-to-18-year-old age group was impressive.

Dothan Country Club’s head pro/general manager, Kevin Klein, and tournament coordinator, Angelia Wade Turner, do such a great job in welcoming the college golf coaches. We always feel wanted at this tournament.

The Future Masters is one of my two favorite recruitment events. The other being our Alabama State Junior Championship, hosted later this month at Canebrake Country Club in Athens. A few weeks ago, I volunteered to help the Alabama Golf Association in starting the State Girls Championship at Montgomery Country Club. Between these two big events, I am happy to tell you, the talent of golf is doing nothing but growing.

At Montgomery C.C., the tournament director for the Girls State Championship brought out the perpetual silver bowl trophy. Each year, the champion’s name is engraved onto this beautiful piece. Checking out this large silver cup, I found a dear friend’s name, Judy Jehle. Judy is from Montgomery, and she plays at Montgomery Country Club and Willow Point. I met Judy in the mid 1970s, when my family was a member of Arrowhead Country Club. Judy’s parents lived off the fifth tee (older layout) and were also members.

I practiced and played some golf with Judy back then. She played on the Auburn University golf team, and it was so impressive to watch her work ethic and drive to improve. Today, you can find her still grinding and playing good golf. Now, women’s golf is growing at a higher percentage rate than ever before. Last year, I volunteered at this event at Canebrake and found an old friend, Scott Davidson, whose daughter, Molly Brown, was playing in the tournament. I had no idea how good this young lady was. She did not win, but in following her for a few holes, it was easy to see that she was something special. Molly completed last year by earning the “Alabama’s Female Golfer of the Year” honors from the Alabama Golf Association. This year at the State Girls Junior, Molly won the tournament and on the following day, earned a spot to play in the U.S. Junior Girls Championship. She was the medalist in this USGA qualifier.

Here’s the amazing thing about Molly: She doesn’t graduate high school until 2025. After watching her play, I asked Molly’s dad where she wanted to play college golf. Molly is driven to play at the highest level, and her first two choices were Duke and Stanford universities. I reached out to both of the universities, as I have some ties with both, and the Stanford University program responded and assured me that they would be keeping a close eye on Molly. At the moment, she is too young to be properly recruited by college golf coaches, but at least she is now on their radar.

This past week at the Future Masters was another inspiring week of recruiting. Coach Travis Cassell and I were there, seeking players for the 2023 school year. We did find quite a few to consider. I introduced Coach Cassell to a large number of four-year university golf coaches in attendance. At the NJCAA level, the rules and regulations in speaking with players and family members are much more relaxed than the NCAA. The coaches looked at me with envy, as I had multiple conversations

during the tournament rounds with parents of the players. NCAA coaches are not allowed to say much more than “good morning” to them during tournaments.

At the Future Masters, the field for the 15-to-18-year-old boys consisted of more than 200 golfers. We were there for three days and watched a lot of golf; I didn’t see many poor golf swings. I did see quite a few young golfers who did not manage their golf games very well, but their swings and the distances they could hit were impressive.

Junior golf is growing like never before. It is apparent that most of these young golfers are all receiving great golf swing instruction. The problems that most have are that they are not instructed well on how to play the game, manage their way around the golf course, rules, choosing shots in varying situations, green reading, quality pre-shot routines and attracting the attention of college and university golf coaches. Most of them are steering the cars, but they’re cruising in the left lane.

These are the issues I plan to assist in after retiring from Central Alabama Community College. I will be working with a couple of universities in assisting their players, as well as hosting a few junior clinics, running them very similar to how I have worked with my golf teams over the years.

In the many years before I became a college golf coach, I was a golf professional, and my forte was in teaching. Oftentimes, I gave a playing lesson and found that I could help the student in lowering scores quicker than performing swing repair instruction on the practice tee. I’m looking forward to what lies ahead. I want to help golfers lower scores through game management and effective practice habits while promoting our Alabama

From the Tee golf professionals who do their jobs so well. Should you be the parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle of a young person – give them a taste of golf. It could be the thing that they have been looking for. My older brother’s daughter is married with three young children, and they live in Denver, Colorado. Their oldest is a daughter, and the youngest is a son. These two found various activities that they love, but the middle one is a girl who just wasn’t into gymnastics, basketball, volleyball or any other team type of sport. Two years ago, my niece’s husband told her that she wasn’t going to sit around the house all day and watch TV. She was going to have to pick an activity. Dave Jennings Shocking to him, she said that she wanted to try golf. Nobody in their house played golf, so who got a call? Yes, it was me. I was thrilled. I purchased a junior set of clubs and had them shipped to her. I made a few calls in her area to find a good junior program she could start with, and she is having a ball. This past winter, she told her father that they needed to move to Alabama where people can play golf 12 months of the year. She recently played in her first competition at the age of 10, and although she didn’t win, she can’t wait for the next one. My niece and her family will be visiting Daphne in July, and I’ve been called in to help Emma with her swing. You’re darn right I am. I hope to see you and your kids on the course this summer. ~ Dave Jennings is men’s golf coach at Central Alabama Community College.