The Ely Golf Club concluded another year of the Youth Golf Camp last Friday with a banquet inside the clubhouse, complete with awards and free membership cards for campers.
The program, several decades in the making since the first camp ran in the early 90s, allows students entering grades third through eighth to learn golf skills.
The club offers five skill levels, ranging from the basic fundamentals of stance, grip and equipment for beginners, all the way up to the older campers who can get out and play almost immediately.
“The biggest thing is we want them to have a good time. We’ve got very, very skilled golfers, but many are just here for the camp experience. They’re with their friends and they’re enjoying it,” said Lori Casey, who has worked with the Youth Golf Camp for nearly ten years.
Registration costs just $20. Campers also receive a membership card that allows them to golf for free for the rest of the summer when accompanied by an adult.
“Golfing can be kind of expensive by the time you pay for clubs and equipment, then pay the greens fees,” said volunteer coach David Young. “We try to make it inexpensive for these kids from the Ely area, so they can learn to play golf without having to spend a lot of money. If they get better, then they can make the investment as they have time and interest.”
The program is run entirely by volunteer coaches, who number about a dozen per year for the 40some participants the camp typically hosts. Two to three coaches help out at each skill level, depending on the group’s size.
“We have had really great volunteers lead the program,” Casey said.
The parents are also “terrific,” Casey added, and the young golfers are “really well-meaning.”
Organizers aim to schedule around other summer camp programs for baseball, hockey, the arts and others in order to maximize the number of opportunities the kids can engage with.
“I think (the camp) is a critical part for us to continue to exist, because those are our future members,” Casey said. “If it’s not them personally who join, maybe it’s their kids or a friend. They learn about us. There are people in Ely who don’t even know we have a golf course.”
Casey said the golf club has been “really supportive” of the camp, though it involves morning closures of the course.
Golf groups like the Couples Club support the program by raising money and contributing to the pool of coaches, Young said.
Other donors from within the Ely Golf Club’s membership and beyond have allowed the camp to offer its “very minimal” registration fee, Casey said.
Program director Mary Levar provided a special shoutout to the City of Morse, who provided a “generous donation” this year to support the camp, Levar wrote.
Casey said her favorite part of the program is seeing the joy on the kids’ faces.
“They’re having a good time, and we’re trying to continue to promote the sport we love,” Casey said.
“They’re very polite, they’re very nice and appreciative, and they’re really glad to be out here,” Young said of the campers. “It’s a great program. If we can get more young people running out to play golf, that’s a great thing.”
Group 4 participants included Cora Lovich, JP Harrne, Analise Mickelson, Gordon Smith, Sawyer Kannes, Madoc Kannes, Owen Kurnava and Oliver Kochendorfer, with coaches Frank Guldbrandsen and Brett Mickelson.
Group 2 participants included Asa Burger, Emily Dunn, Sally Dunn, Thomson Gregory, Axl Hancock and Elam Moran, with coaches Jay Tomlinson and Tim Cooper.
Group 1 participants included Hollace Fenske, Harper Kurnava, Renon Patrillo, Piper Sperry and Logan Vega, with coaches Mary Levar and Melissa Buss.
Group 5 participants included Sophia Baroun, Arrow Halbakken, Blaze Halbakken, Toren Hardin, Will Holthaus, Jack Luthens, Jimmy McCarter, Collette Moskowitz, Eleanor Nyquist and Dax Petrillo, with coaches Lori Casey, Jim Townsend and Brooks Shepard.
