First-time clinics bring 24 junior golfers to Surrey Golf Club

Surrey-area children wrapped up a series of weekly golf lessons at Surrey Golf Club on Sunday, Oct. 4. The first RBC Community Junior Golf / First Tee clinic in Surrey involved 24 players aged seven to 13. Coach Mark Nyffenegger taught two sessions, divided by age.

Surrey Golf Club joined the initiative for the first time this year, becoming one of six B.C. courses delivering RBC Community Junior Golf in partnership with Golf Canada. The other courses are Cedar Hill and Highland Pacific Golf in Victoria, Glacier Greens in Comox, and Fraserview and Queen Elizabeth Park Pitch and Putt in Vancouver. Pre-registration for next spring is available at golfcanada.ca/rbc-community-junior-golf (https://www.golfcanada.ca/rbc-community-junior-golf/).

There is no fee for participants. The programme website says it introduces young people to golf through fun, inclusive instruction designed to build confidence, develop skills and create positive experiences in sport.

Since 2021, RBC Community Junior Golf has engaged more than 100,000 youth through free First Tee programming. Thirty-eight courses across Canada now participate.

Elsewhere in Surrey, 53 young golfers from around the Lower Mainland gathered on Sept. 4 at The BackYard Golf’s Clayton Hills Par 3 Golf Course for the inaugural First Tee – British Columbia end-of-summer tournament. A post on firstteecanada.ca said the event celebrated a season of learning, development and fun on the golf course (https://firstteecanada.ca/first-tee-british-columbia-celebrates-season-with-inaugural-end-of-summer-tournament/).

The nine-hole tournament gave participants a chance to apply what they learned in First Tee lessons to an actual round. Scott Stefani, programme manager with First Tee – British Columbia, said it lets them play, learn and have fun with their families, while showing them golf can be a sport where they belong and continue to grow.