Junior self caddie - teaching them to do it on their own

At what age did you start your junior on "full on self caddie"? Mine is 9YO boy and for many different types of tournaments, a caddie is still allowed. However, I know that once he gets into the 11-13+ year old ranges, there are events which don't allow caddies at all. I think I have even heard of no spectator events. Eventually, I know they have to be able to caddie themselves in the junior ranks.

We set goals every year for his golf game, but this year, one of the goals I am purposefully placing before him is to start doing all golf on his own. I actually tried this out last Thrusday/Friday with him. Thursday we used our normal player/caddie interactions and he shot 35. On Friday at the same course (and conditions were similar), I pushed the cart only and was silent except for our normal non-golf chit chat on the walk between shots. He shot 48.

Any advice for going through this with a junior? Do you just have to grin and bear it while they "learn" to do it? It's certainly tough to watch them make mistakes when you know they have covered a certain scenario before many times. One thing for sure, I am going to look back on the old "caddie daddy" days with much fondness.

The sooner....the better. My son started playing some no-caddie events at 8. He enjoys it a lot more. I know for sure I could save him a few strokes but oh well.

I still see some dad (mainly at US kids tournaments) who still tee the ball up for their kid. Not only that, they are muttering instructions to their kids right up until they start their back swing. They get onto the putting green and they are doing the same thing.

I just need my kids to get more acclimated with all the rules.

Good (and timely) topic. I feel I'm going down the slippery path of "almost doing it for my daughter" (see kekoa's comment above). Is there a process to develop kid's self reliance? For example, my daughter does not even do the practice stroke on the green.

I guess what I'm asking is what's the approach here. Do I just stay silent (which I'm capable of doing), then after the round, just tell my kid "you forget doing X at #5, you forget doing Y at #8, etc". Or is there a better approach?

I'd say routine is key. My son started a real routine probably when he was 7. He has a routine for full shots and on the green. I also taught him to play fast. Not rushed, but fast. He has this engrained so when I'm not there he keeps doing it. Of course they will make tons of mistakes at the beginning, but its all part of the learning process.

There’s a tournament I want my kid to play in this summer where no caddies and range finders are allowed. He’ll be 7 playing in the 7-8 group. I had him play by himself the other day, but we would discuss his thought process and “mistakes” after each hole rather than the whole round.

The sooner the better. Son played in a local 9 hole event for the state where the dad's could caddy. He looked at me and was oh hell no! We will kill each other.

One of the kids and dad in his group argued the whole time. Kid was beating up the green and throwing clubs. Worst experience so far in Junior golf.

If the child truly loves the sport and is mentally tough then the sooner the better. I think putting a kid out there who doesn't really want it or isn't emotionally ready could do more damage than good.

Yes, this is probably the fine line with some kids. If they are not emotionally ready to struggle, they may come to drop the game altogether. I would guess that this could be with any sport. No matter what, they will have to learn to deal with adversity and each kid will be different. Some can deal as early as 7 (as per Kekoa's kid) and others may be older before they can start this process. Certainly with golf, I would want my kid to have at least 1 year under their belt of "self caddie" before heading out to tournaments ($$$) that require them to do it on their own.

We are dealing with this right now. My daughter is 9 and I wanted get to start learning on her own. Our club once a month has a junior event mainly for very green golfers but no caddies allowed. She played last month and it was very eye opening for her abs me as well to what needs to be done. I plan to keep doing these events to make her more comfortable playing by herself.

drop them off at the bag drop and drive back home. They will figure it out.

Agree in spirit, but he is 9 years old....so no....not yet. It's a different America in some unfortunate ways.

if your going to do a no caddie event with a younger kid make sure they can break 100 on their own. No good just throwing a kid into the deep end if there not ready. I am strong believer that a kid does as much as possible when their young even it means you may not win. Let them make mistakes as young as possible. The self reliant part should’ve been done when you do events that require a caddie.

Ideally in a caddie event you just hold the club and be there just in case panic sets in on the course. If they can get around just fine time to make the move on up and go through a lot adjustment.

the toughest part is the parent who doesn’t over caddy their kid this because you not going to win if they Playing without a lot help while other kids are just going to win week in week out after they get fed commands to play. Eventually things all even out though. A lot people say junior golf is long road and a not a sprint to win.

I know right. Now they call that child neglect. Before you could walk 5 miles to the skating ring and be home by the time the street light came on.

My son began dipping his toe in this pond last summer when he was 9 1/2. These are 18 hole tournaments about 500 yards further than he was comfortable playing in a 13 under age division so these tournaments are not about scoring or winning but about learning to play golf on his own. I intentionally chose tourneys with few kids in his age division so he is not in a high pressure situation and can just learn to play 18 holes on his own. Put them in something like this for their first few times out so they can get some comfort being on their own. Did my son do well in those tournaments? Absolutely not and I could of saved him at least 5-10 strokes in each. However, he also did not mess up the field nor embarrass himself and they have been invaluable learning experiences for him.

As someone said earlier ROUTINE, ROUTINE, ROUTINE. Your main goal helping your junior should be helping them establish a routine. It is more important than even the swing in my opinion. You can look at any top player and what do they all share? A routine. The tournament my son struggled in was when he was on his own and he lost his routine. He should of shot a decent score that day and did not and the one major flaw of the day was a total loss of routine.

Never would I leave a 9 year old alone even when I was young kids would disappear. Remember even as kid hearing about John walsh and his son. That was in the 80’s.

Will they be able to drive at 16 or have you heard that sometimes there are car crashes?

You can't protect them forever.

Im not advocating for dropping them off in the slums, but a 9 yo playing with 9 yrs on their own helps them make decisions. Its either that or mom and dad pumping them with water and snacks for 18 holes.

They can be on their own with you there for safety reasons. They are not mutually exclusive. Leaving your 9 year old with only other 9 year olds is not safe nor sane parenting. My son will play practice rounds with his friends and I walk around and read a book. Even the smartest preteens make very dumb decisions, particularly in a group.

My son's 10 now, and played all last season without a caddie and it well pretty well. He's got the normal shot routine down and that helps mostly off the tee and on the greens. Nowadays we work primarily on course management when I'm out with him. Where to hit the ball, where to miss. A lot with expectations based on lies and trouble areas and such. And of course tempering his emotions when shots don't result as we envisioned. I will say that playing with teammates in the PGA JLG format helped out a bunch in him understanding the playing solo. It really helped him get off me as a crutch while playing and asking for distances and things like that.

"Leaving your 9 year old with only other 9 year olds is not safe nor sane parenting." Maybe better parenting and it would be sane. Just saying.

We are talking about a 9 year kid. You just don’t let a kid that young wonder around without a trusted adult around them. When it comes to golf courses there are tons of dangers around especially if you consider wildlife or a random thing like stray balls from other golfers.

OMG are you the one in the mall with the kid wrapped to the lease?

There is a newly invented thing called a phone. If you really want you can track them or they can call for help.

All three of mine were given a bike test at 8 yo. If they passed they could travel around the neighborhood and up the shopping center. Failed and you confined to the backyard and play dates.

You got out of line and its back to the yard for you.

Never had a problem.

My worry is not just about my child but about the adults who are around my children. I can't govern the actions of adults on a golf course. As well, like I said no 9 year old no matter how well you think they are parented is above doing idiotic things. On their own they are still going to make poor decisions at times and also not be able to make the best decisions in a pressure situation. You can try to attack parenting all you want to, leaving a group of 9 year olds unattended on a golf course for a round of golf, 2 hours we will say for 9 holes, is not safe nor sane. Will you be fine 99.9% of the time, yes, but that .1% can bite you in rear end really quickly when your 9 year old hits a shank and knocks a guy unconscious or vice versa. My 10 year old is a model of responsibility and extremely mature for his age, no way I am leaving him on his own on a golf course for 2 hours because I don't need to have some outdated 1950s mentality to have enough sense to know 10 year old kids do dumb things sometimes.

The day my kid picked up a club. His first tournaments were at 8 and were NO caddie. I didn't caddie until US Kids. I enjoyed the time spent, but hated caddying. I was just there to shoot the breeze. I loathe parents that tee the ball up for kids and line up putts.

Still saw it in USKids last spring. Another dad asked me "Why didn't you tell him he was lined up so wrong on the putt?" I responded "Because I don't feel like wiping his butt after the round" When I caddy it consists of talking about what shot and where he wants to hit it...up to him at that point.

my son is now 9, but I have always had him make his own decision. Mainly because I never golfed until he started so I don’t want to confuse him. Some of the tournaments I’m allowed to push the cart, but not allowed on the green.

I'm not attacking you as a parent. Just telling you I disagree with you.

I guess we're lucky where we are. The bartenders at our course know my son better than they know me, which reminds me, I should probably go settle his lemonade and hot dog tab one of these days. The entire men's club that are there Monday - Friday also know him and give him crap about being there instead of doing homework. And then sometimes the head pros in the shop will make him do chores before he can go play like vacuum the shop or clean carts that are in the drop off line. He's only 11.

You shouldn't say anything to them after the round unless THEY want to talk about it. The worst time to talk about the round is afterwords in the car home.

Ummm... In Florida and other states through out the South East we have these things on the courses called Alligators. At 10 my kid would walk and play the course with his buddies. Made sure he knew and understood how to deal with things. Our course we have gators, cotton mouths, bob cats, wild boards, and I am sure other wildlife I am not thinking of. At 10 I always worried about him being out there and made sure he had a phone. Has nothing to do with parenting.

I agree and it never stops as I'm sure others will agree. My 20yo studied aboard for 6 months. He would text me (just to say hi) if he had a few drinks. I would toss and turn the whole night.