Lustrous b Green PATCH OF
Youth Golf
Palmer Mutcheson winds up a tee shot competing for Snohomish High School.
A
sees a surge like never before
BY BOB SHERWIN • CG STAFF WRITER
ll around the country last year, and the Northwest was no exception, kids were restricted and restrained because of the COVID-19 pandemic, like no other time we can remember. Sports seasons and events were sweepingly cancelled. Gyms, courts and playing fields
were left vacant for months on end. Indoor play was denied, and outdoor play was deemed too risky.
Someone took the ball, and everyone stayed home. Athletes inaction.
In this bleak confinement, however, there was a lustrous patch of green.
“Last summer and fall there was just one option,’’ said Evan Johnsen, director of programs and development
for First Tee of Greater Seattle, ‘’and it was golf. There was no soccer, no football, no baseball. You couldn’t play outdoors in groups. A lot of people picked up golf. So, that’s pretty cool.’’
It was cool because it got kids involved, they got out of the house and exercised safely. They could compete.
They could interact with their friends or meet new ones. They could be sort of normal, within limits. “Golf is natural for social distancing,’’ said Tyler Johnsen, executive director of the Washington Junior Golf Association. “It certainly brought a lot of new people to the game.’’ 66
JULY 2021
cascadegolfer.com
