In football, it’s Punt, Pass and Kick. Baseball’s version is Hit, Pitch and Run.
Golf’s version of a kid-friendly competition – Drive, Chip and Putt – and it has already exceeded expectations.
The competition, aimed at growing the game of golf, recently concluded its inaugural event with 88 golfers vying for national recognition at Augusta National.
Registration, which was capped at 17,500 this year, has already been upped to 50,000 for 2015. More than 1,000 players age 7-15 had signed up for next year’s competition with the first day registration had opened.
So, yeah, it’s pretty popular.
Tiger Woods’ emergence in the 1990s was supposed to create a youth movement in the sport, igniting interest among young kids who had someone they could emulate and follow for decades.
Though the sport did enjoy a bit of a surge, it wasn’t nearly the heights of what was imagined.
Backed by the USGA and PGA of America, Drive, Chip and Putt is destined to succeed. So, too, might the competitors, who advanced through local, sub-regional and regional events to make it to Georgia.
“Judging by the swings we saw today,” Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne told Golf Digest, “we’re going to be hearing from them again.”
Just as we’ll hear much more about the event in years to come.
Local, sub-regional and regional events