Kids learn patience, control at YMCA Golf Clinic

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — Sometimes 4-foot putts can turn into 20-foot putts.

The golf three-some of Kielyn and Kinleigh Bahe and Mallory Cook found that out the hard way while contending with a rather fast green at Wildwood Municipal Golf Course’s ninth hole.

If anything, they got in some good exercise while immediately chasing their wayward putts down and almost making subsequent attempts before the ball stopped rolling … like World Golf Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson.

But under the watchful eye of Jaime Caffrey, the three didn’t pick up any of their putts and eventually found the bottom of the cup.

“One of the most important thing for young golfers to learn is patience,” said Caffrey, who was one of the instructors at the Charles City Family YMCA Youth Golf Clinic, which concluded its latter two-week session at Wildwood.

“The other is swing control,” Caffrey said. “Young kids tend to swing to hard … even when they’re putting.”

Caffrey is the program director at the YMCA, which annually hosts the twice-a-summer clinics.

“The clinics were actually started by Heidi Pavlovich,” Caffrey said. “We later got involved.”

Caffrey and Pavlovich both golfed in college — Caffrey at Central College in Pella and Pavlovich at South Dakota State.

The two have held these type of clinics for the past 10 years, but this was the first summer at Wildwood.

“Holding it here gave us the opportunity to include Joel Bruner,” Caffrey said of Wildwood’s superintendent Joel Bruner, who played golf at Iowa Central.

The clinic also featured a fourth instructor — Charles City 2018 graduate Theo Arndt. Unlike the other instructors, Arndt will likely not play golf in college … rather baseball for Wartburg College. But Arndt was an all-conference golfer for the Comets.

The clinic catered to two age groups: 7-9 and 10-12.

“The 9-hole course here is more compact, so it’s easier to manage a group of kids,” Caffrey said. “There’s no driving range here, but we were able to hit in the fields [south of course].”

In addition to teaching driving, chipping and putting fundamentals, the clinic also focused on rules and etiquette.

“When players know proper golf etiquette, it makes the game better for everyone,” Caffrey said.