‘80 per cent’ confidence expressed that summer junior tour will go on
Tour director working ‘pretty feverishly’ to give young golfers a chance to compete in the heat
A summer-long series of competitions that have showcased the skill of golfers 19 and younger since 1993 will hit the links again this year, if John White has anything to say about it.
He has been running the Niagara District Junior Golf Tour since its inception, and has been working “pretty feverishly” to ensure it won’t suffer the same fate as the Hamilton-Halton Junior Golf Tour, cancelled due to COVID-19.
He conceded the tour, which traditionally has 10 events, might lose a couple of stops this year due to the lack of tee times at some courses. But that would be a small price to pay to give players a chance to compete. “I really want to get the kids out playing in competition. They look forward to the competition,” said White, the head professional at Beechwood Golf Course in Niagara Falls. “That’s what it’s all about at that level.
“If you’re a young, junior golfer and you want to get better and even think about a scholarship or beyond that, competition is good.”
He is “80 per cent” confident an abbreviated tour — perhaps, seven to eight events — can be held this summer. White expects to have a better idea of course availability within the next two weeks, “to see if the frenzy dies down.”
“Then the courses might be a little more receptive to saying, ‘OK, you can play Monday morning, Monday afternoon,’ ” he said.
Courses in Ontario have been busy since Premier Doug Ford gave the industry the go-ahead to open with modified rules that underscore the need to maintain physical distancing. White said it’s been “crazy busy” at Beechwood.
“Doug Ford allowed us to open on a Saturday. They announced it on a Thursday; by Thursday afternoon, my tee sheet was full for the Saturday,” he recalled. “I had no tee times open, and it’s been like that almost every day since.
“We’ve had a few quieter days, but we had to spread our tee times out a little bit more.”
White said a lot people, including youths, are taking up a sport that’s tailor-made for enjoying the outdoors while maintaining physical distancing.
“It’s been unbelievable. It’s almost like there is no room for anybody to play, but people are playing,” he said.
“They want to get outdoors, and golf is a great game for that.”
Splitting a tour stop over two days, with girls playing one day and boys the next, is among the ideas under consideration for this year’s tour.
“We’re just working through it. I really want to do something for the kids to have a competition,” White said. “I’m pretty confident we will have something.
“It’s just getting the golf courses on board. That’s the challenge, and I’m sure the golf courses are really keen on getting juniors out there but, as I said, they’re getting so many requests.”
With schools closed for the remainder of the academic year, organizers also have the option of scheduling events much earlier than usual.
“We could almost start it now. The kids aren’t in school,” he said. “Traditionally, we’ve left it until the end of June or beginning of July because that’s when the kids get out of school.
“I’m not saying I’m going to do that, but we could just based on the fact the kids are out school.”
Whatever happens with the junior tour going forward, it will have a “different look” than in past years.
“The kids are going to be dropped off. There won’t be any parents around,” White said. “They’re going to play their golf, score it online and then they’re going to leave, right?
“So it’s not like there is going to be anyone hanging around.”
Ben Julie, left, and Trent
Clarke competed on the boys under-11 division of the Niagara District
Junior Golf Tour in 2019. Here, they were playing at Rolling Meadows in Niagara Falls. “I really want to get the kids out playing in competition. They look forward to the competition. That’s what it’s all about at that level.”
JOHN WHITE NIAGARA DISTRICT JUNIOR GOLF TOUR DIRECTOR