Parent specators

[xal951]

how much is too much

I play enough junior stuff to see it all. From the very relaxed parent just out there too watch and help ALL kids find balls and the parents who bicker at their kids and obviously the kids arent having any fun at all.

Alot of orginizations such as the AJGA have strict parent specator rules and stand to them. Parents arent aloud to talk to kids and walk anywhere but the cart path. But some stuff like IJGT's they arent as strict and youll have the parent in your group who follows and walks with their kid coaching them everystep of the way.

The thing that bugs me the most about junior golf and parents is more the parents than anything. Ive seen instances where parents will cheat for the kids and throw ball down or move a ball around. Also the ones who will help find their own kids balls but turn their head when they see your ball going in the woods. Now when my dad ocassionaly follows me i make him stay on the cart path and tell him to be behind me the whole way. He also helps forcaddie for everyones ball in my group and doesnt favor just me.

What are your opinions about parent specators and please share any stories you have about these situations. I only wish more Tours were like the AJGA with strict guidelines they stand by.

[lhsgolfer2]

i was playing in a junior tourney once, and dad told his son that if he left before the final round, he would buy him a round at the most expensive public course in Washington, because his son didn't have a chance to win.

 

Ridiculous, golf is a game, games are supposed to be fun

 

 

mike

[bk4]

The worst are the parents who litterally box out other kids when going to the range. They then stand behind their child while they hit every shot, then wipe the kid's club after every shot and put down a ball for them.

[erikdavis]

As a parent of a junior golfer, it is far more difficult to watch and encourage your child than it is to play in the matches. I always help all of the golfers in my sons 4-some look for balls and tell them when they hit a good shot, or congratulate them for a nice par/birdie/etc. I have tried to be a role model for my son, golf is a game of integrity and control, if he sees me acting like a fool, he would learn the wrong things about golf, it is a game, it is fun. All I ever ask of him is to play his best, if its not good enough, no problems, but I do get frustrated with him when he lacks effort or concentration, he is a very good golfer. I take notes about what happened on each hole, good or bad, the drive, chips, number of putts, etc. so we can talk about what I saw and give him the opportunity to recall what was good/bad with the round so he can work on it during practice.

[xal951]

i dont like the parents who come over to the scorers table after a round so they can compare your scores with what they wrote down to make sure you didnt cheat. Not that it matters anyway because that they say doesnt matter.

 

I feel so bad for the kids who are out there hacking it up and shooting 90 something and their parents are getting psycho pissed and walk off and the kid is having no fun and doesnt even feel like being there. If i was a parent and saw that my kid was having a horrible time and hated playing then why force it on them. It seems a lot of parents want their kids to be prodigys or the next tiger woods. Its a shame.

[nchladek]

For me, any amount is too much. There is nothing that agravates me more than an intrusive parent on the course, but I guess the relaxed ones are bearable.

[jrgolf]

I agree with you...Parents should be encouraging and supportive and never push their kids too hard.

 

Kids should always have the most fun possible when playing the great game of golf...parents should stay back and just enjoy watching their kids having the most fun possible on the golf course.

 

As a parents, we all want the best for our children...this is why I recommend to all parents of junior golfer to read the following articles about how sports parents should act then to follow the 8 Guidelines for Parent Involvement in Sports. I hope you'll find the 2 articles useful and helpful. For your information this junior golf website is dedicated to parents of junior golfers.

 

Wish you the best,

[scotty01292]

I never let my dad anywhere near the course when i'm playing in a competition... Except in big competitions when you're allowed caddies, because he knows all my clubs almost as well as I do. My dad's the convenor of my junior section, so he's at all the matches and walks round all the groups helping search for balls etc... He occasionally gives me a few very subtle tips, but nothing else, and always helps the other guy looking for balls as much as me...

[king1066]

I think that parents who are involved with their children is great. Some are overbearing, but no one is perfect. Just think of all the children who have no support from their parents.

[jimbonecrusher]

Even though it has been quite a long time since I played my last junior event, I have experienced both ends of the spectrum. My first experience with a parent on the course was bad. I was participating in golf courses junior program, and we were playing in the junior club championship. This parent was on another hole and watched me toss the flag stick to towards the edge of the green. I used to put the flag on the fringe back then, because I didn't want it where anybody could hit it. When I tossed it it put an indentation in the fringe. I then started to fix the mark with the head of my putter. This was conveyed to the club pro as me javelin tossing the flag into the ground and then pounding my putter in the ground in the same area. The funny thing, was the the Pro went to see the area, and never found a problem, but nobody believed me. The sad part of it was that I got kicked off of the course for a month, and couldn't finish the tournament. The kid was not even in contention.

 

My other experiences have been good since then. I had some parents who would just stand about 20 yards behind the group and not speak, and others who would find balls when they went astray. The only time that I saw parents get crazy was when I played in the '92 and '93 Junior World Tournament at Torrey Pines. That was downright funny to watch. One players parents were rather pushy and sounded to me to be a little extreme. He now is a touring pro, so it must have worked out for him.

 

I am teaching my 10 year old daughter and 5 year old son. I found myself being too technical with my daughter and saw that she was getting frustrated. After noticing this, I told her to just focus on hitting the ball hard and when she has a question to ask and I will try to help. It is tough because you want to see your children do well, and what to help them do it.

[7D2]

I agree parents do get out of hand. One time at one of my tourny's the dad was telling his son how to swing at the tee box. Parents should do what they would do is they were watching the pro's; clap whan a good hit and encourage. You don't see people at PGA events saying "keep your head down"

 

good topic

JP

[golfman1229]

As a parent of a junior golfer, it is far more difficult to watch and encourage your child than it is to play in the matches. I always help all of the golfers in my sons 4-some look for balls and tell them when they hit a good shot, or congratulate them for a nice par/birdie/etc. I have tried to be a role model for my son, golf is a game of integrity and control, if he sees me acting like a fool, he would learn the wrong things about golf, it is a game, it is fun. All I ever ask of him is to play his best, if its not good enough, no problems, but I do get frustrated with him when he lacks effort or concentration, he is a very good golfer. I take notes about what happened on each hole, good or bad, the drive, chips, number of putts, etc. so we can talk about what I saw and give him the opportunity to recall what was good/bad with the round so he can work on it during practice.

by doing that you are a role model for ur son

[thenextnumber1]

my dad is the same as you ericdavies, after every round he sees me play he tells me what part of my game he thinks i could do with practicing and what he noticed, and we go through the round.

 

But he stands about 40 yards away from me in competition. hes only seen me play 3 comps anyway but sometimes if im doin bad i just walk along side him and have a chat and stuff lol!

[drew123]

The year before last at states' for high school this kid was tearing it up. I think he was like six or seven under through 11 holes. He was going to win barring any huge blowup. Then on the 12th he lipped out a 20 foot and hit his putter and bent the shaft. The other kid in the group then told him not to use it so he wouldn't be disqualified, he was really just trying to help. Then the kis just bent it back and used it and an official DQed him. Then the dad of the DQed kid went over and started yelling at the kid who tried to help and tolds him not to use the putter again. So then the dad of that kid steps in to defend his kid who is getting screamed at and the dads end up fist fighting.

[scotty01292]

The year before last at states' for high school this kid was tearing it up. I think he was like six or seven under through 11 holes. He was going to win barring any huge blowup. Then on the 12th he lipped out a 20 foot and hit his putter and bent the shaft. The other kid in the group then told him not to use it so he wouldn't be disqualified, he was really just trying to help. Then the kis just bent it back and used it and an official DQed him. Then the dad of the DQed kid went over and started yelling at the kid who tried to help and tolds him not to use the putter again. So then the dad of that kid steps in to defend his kid who is getting screamed at and the dads end up fist fighting.

 

That's got to be a first... You wouldn't get Ernie's dad and Phails dad fist fighting at the Masters, over a dodgy drop or something... They're being bad roll-models for their sons as well...

[emc]

The year before last at states' for high school this kid was tearing it up. I think he was like six or seven under through 11 holes. He was going to win barring any huge blowup. Then on the 12th he lipped out a 20 foot and hit his putter and bent the shaft. The other kid in the group then told him not to use it so he wouldn't be disqualified, he was really just trying to help. Then the kis just bent it back and used it and an official DQed him. Then the dad of the DQed kid went over and started yelling at the kid who tried to help and tolds him not to use the putter again. So then the dad of that kid steps in to defend his kid who is getting screamed at and the dads end up fist fighting.

 

What you get for knowing the rules and trying to be helpful I guess :tongue:

[DaveyH]

in wales parents are not allowed onto the course.

[emc]

I've actually only been in one event where parents have followed their kids around, and it was more of the spectator fashion, staying a respectful distance away from the players etc. I'd probably crack up if my dad tried to tell me wat to do

[wholeinwon]

I had my dad follow me around only once at a US-Am qualifier when I was 14 (by the way...BIG MISTAKE lol...i think i shot like 89 or something and killed my confidence for 2 years)

 

I think the worst group you can get is when you have the kid who's dad thinks he's Butch Harmon and his kid is Tiger Woods...You feel sorry for the kid you know...and you just wanna smack the dad with your club to shut him up.

[DaveyH]

I had my dad follow me around only once at a US-Am qualifier when I was 14 (by the way...BIG MISTAKE lol...i think i shot like 89 or something and killed my confidence for 2 years)

 

I think the worst group you can get is when you have the kid who's dad thinks he's Butch Harmon and his kid is Tiger Woods...You feel sorry for the kid you know...and you just wanna smack the dad with your club to shut him up.

i had this in the north wales boys open this kids father tutoring him all the way round he was off 7 and shot around 94 or 95. His dad however spent most of his time finding the other numpty we were playing around withs ball.

[TM golf guy]

I have had my parents follow me around a few times and never had an issue. I kinda liked it.

[xal951]

its not bad when the people you are playing with dont talk at all, ill sometimes walk near the cart path with my dad.

 

My dad is pretty superstitous and thinks that everytime he follows me I play bad, he's right and wont follow me anymore.

[DaveyH]

my dad has never step foot on any golfcourse whilst im in a tourney.

[lhsgolfer2]

there are definitely times when parents are AWEFUL, but looking back on it now, i am so thankful my dad cared enough to want to walk, and will cherish the memories forever. So i think it is awesome when parents walk, as long as they keep everything in perspective, and support their kids without degrading their opponents or putting pressure on them.

 

 

mike

 

 

haha, fist fighting? so ridiculous