Golf Camps For Juniors: How to Create an Amazing Summer Golf Experience

Regardless of whether you talk to professionals, amateurs and recreational golfers, golf camps for juniors are formative experiences and foundational to their love of the game.

Junior golf camps also present a massive opportunity for golf facilities. With interest among juniors at record highs, golf camps are an effective way to nurture the next generation, scale your service offering and drive more revenue.

Here are some things to consider as you develop a golf summer camp program at your golf course.

• Why start a junior golf camp?
• Set dates and times
• Sort your junior golf camp into age groups
• Design your program
• Set the cost per participant
• Document contingency policies
• Ensure the safety of junior golfers
• Market and promote to maximize attendance
• Make it easy to sign up

Why start golf camps for juniors?

All the evidence suggests that golf is having a resurgence among younger generations.

• According to the National Golf Foundation, there were more on-course youth golfers in 2023 than any year since 2006
• Also in 2023, junior golf nonprofit Youth on Course logged a 48% YOY increase in rounds played in the United States, Canada, and Australia
• A 2024 study from The Harris Poll and First Tee found that 73% of parents believe that golf teaches children important life skills and 79% believe it helps them build character

Significant developments to golf’s culture is bringing more diversity to the game in terms of background, gender and age.

So there has never been a better time to bring curious young golfers into a safe, welcoming environment where they can learn to love the game alongside their peers.

By doing so, golf course managers can not only engage this demographic during school holidays, but also secure the loyalty of youngsters who might someday become regular players or members.

Set camp dates and times

Setting the duration of the program and the length of your daily sessions is the first step in the process of creating a golf camp for juniors. With roughly 10–12 weeks available during the summer, the number of sessions offered should be based upon the size of your junior program.

Larger programs should offer full and half-day options, usually Monday through Thursday, reserving Friday as a rain date.

If your pool of junior golfers is small and concentrated, limiting options is acceptable and actually preferred, especially at private clubs where a PGA Professional team takes priority.

• Half-day camps are generally up to three hours
• Full-day camps are typically up to six hours
• Full-day options may be only partially golf-related and include lunch and other organized activities

Of course, if you’re a busy club or daily-fee golf course with packed ranges and practice facilities, you may have to get creative with how you run and schedule your summer camps.

• Start early in the morning on weekdays to maximize time at the range, chipping area and/or putting green
• Block off times on the tee sheet well in advance of camp dates to ensure campers have enough time on the course and so that daily-fee players/members have ample clarity on times where they cannot book
• Reserve tables or areas in the clubhouse for lunch, snacktime and other activities throughout the week

Schedule like a pro

Having the right golf scheduling and online booking software makes it much easier to manage the logistics of a junior golf camp, both for parents and your staff.

• For parents, your scheduling software should make it easy to sign up, book and pay for golf camp sessions online
• It should also make it easy to assign instructors to specific sessions and manage staff availability with full transparency

Your booking software should also help you manage multiple service and employee calendars, set custom price points, dates and durations and operate separately from your tee sheet to avoid overlap and confusion between your campers and daily fee golfers.

Sort your junior golf camp into the right age groups

Unless you have a very small group of junior golf camp attendees, your best bet is to create groups based on age, creating an advantageous learning and social environment.

With each age group having its own distinct learning style (and attention span), the duration and style of instruction will differ.

• Older learners tend to have more physical coordination and should benefit from a higher level of technical and tactical instruction
• Conversely, teaching younger children usually requires a balance of instruction, supervision and other activities outside of golf to maximize their attention span

As you build your program, it’s important to talk to your teaching and camp staff about setting junior golf camp age windows and/or limits that will help them maximize their time and instruction.

Keep things entertaining and dynamic for younger golfers

1. Follow the advice of PGA Professionals and use stations in your instruction, moving juniors from station to station in short five-minute intervals
2. Allow a degree of free experimentation without strict coaching
3. Use technology like launch monitors and simulator bays to add an element of gamification
4. Create mini competitions with prizes to stimulate interest, particularly toward the end of the program
5. Plan alternative activities to break up the golf instruction
6. Try to handicap the competitions as best as possible, allowing for lesser-skilled campers to compete on as level a playing field as possible

Design a great program and set the right goals

First and foremost, golf camps for juniors need to consider the age and skill level of the participants in each group, the size of the learning groups, available staff and available facilities.

Only then can you set realistic goals and expectations for your staff and camp attendees:

• What do you want campers to take away from the week, regardless of skill level?
• How will you move between skills and prioritize different aspects of the game (putting, chipping, pitching, approach play, driving)?
• How will you build in lessons on course management, rules and etiquette?
• What will the ratio be between on-course play and practice time?
• How will you keep things fun, dynamic and loose while also prioritizing learning and development?
• How will you culminate the week, incentivize campers and evaluate progress?

However you choose to structure the program, the details should be laid out on your website and/or mobile app, as keeping parents in the loop makes them more comfortable investing in the opportunity.

Different approaches when designing golf camps for juniors

• Cover aspects like fitness, ball striking, mental game and course management
• Start early in the morning on weekdays to maximize time at the range, chipping area and/or putting green
• Consider a championship-style summer program that encourages healthy competition in a league or knockout format
• Consider modeling your program on a national junior competition like Drive, Chip and Putt
• Take inspiration from The First Tee by combining golf instruction with life skills coaching (managing emotions, resolving conflicts and beyond)
• Consider off-course and indoor golf facilities like driving ranges and golf simulators, especially on peak summer days when the tee sheet is full

Finally, remember to think about the future when creating your summer camp program. You want to engage your juniors in a program because they often serve as a feeder system for your broader junior programming.

Create building block opportunities for juniors to grow and mature, from their youngest years to high school and beyond.

Set the appropriate cost-per-participant

When it comes to golf camps for juniors, cost-per-participant depends on a number of factors.

• Instruction-based summer camps will warrant greater fees than summer camps that split time between golf and general children’s activities
• Many private clubs will have a captive audience that is committed to their summer camps regardless of price, while some public course customers may be more price-conscious
• Offering half or full-day options and multi-child discounts helps accommodate families with differing budgets
• Lunch for the participants may or may not be included in the package depending on your facilities
• You may also want to build-in costs related to camper apparel and accessories such as hats, shirts, towels, etc.

Junior golf camp pricing considerations and tools

Golf course reporting and analytics intelligence tools can help you manage financial details, understand which strategies are working best and ultimately generate more revenue for your course.

Sign-up data such as top demographics and booking methods can give you insight into your customer base and help you price and market your junior golf camp effectively.

Set contingency policies

No matter how well you plan, recognize that things can go wrong. Weather is unpredictable, and some parents will inevitably want to cancel, get refunds or make up missed sessions.

To prevent potential issues:

• Document the policies governing these scenarios in advance
• Put everything in writing to provide clarity
• Spell out the dress code and any equipment or tools needed to attend your summer camps
• Consider offering booking flexibility or refunds up to a certain deadline

Ensure the safety of junior golfers

It’s important to make sure that golf camps for juniors safety requirements for your program, as the facility itself—from the green to the restaurant—may not have been designed with the welfare of children in mind.

In terms of personnel, remember that staff who have not previously worked with children may have to undergo a background check.
First aid and CPR training may also be prudent for all staff who are going to be working with the campers.

It’s also essential to collect and rigorously review camper-specific information around allergies, mental and/or physical disabilities and all other health concerns.

Parents of children with these issues will no doubt share this information with your staff, but it’s important to be absolutely clear on all procedures and have a plan to ensure all campers with unique needs have an amazing experience.

Finally, the course itself should also cover the basics of golf safety, including appropriate dress, course etiquette and divot repair. Needless to say, teaching young groups to shout “fore!” can be made into a fun activity.

Market and promote to maximize attendance

Marketing and promoting your junior golf camp can help you maximize revenue, ensuring that none of the work put into creating the program is wasted.

Lightspeed’s Digital Marketing Solutions (DMS) team can help golf course managers with website design, email marketing campaigns, online reviews, social media and beyond.

These solutions are proven to increase sales and bookings. Lightspeed survey data shows that golf courses using DMS for just 90 to 180 days see a 4.3% increase in total sales and a 2.7% increase in rounds.

Strategies for marketing and promoting golf camps for juniors

• Plan over the winter and start promoting soon after the holidays before families make alternative summer plans
• Utilize your social media presence to target potential customers in the 18–44 age demographic
• Build and schedule automated emails with an email marketing tool like ChronoPitch so that you can effectively generate interest and sign-ups, targeting parenting-age golfers in your database
• In your marketing, promote the benefits of golf for kids and educate parents on what your camps will offer
• Use your website to provide all relevant information, reducing the number of phone calls to your golf shop
• Try partnering with local schools and other community organizations to spread the word and encourage involvement
• Don’t forget that these summer camps are your chance to sell your services to the whole family: secure the kids and you’ll often get the parents, too

Make it easy to sign up

After all the work you put into organizing your summer golf camps, it’s important to make the registration and payment process quick and easy.

This generally involves:

• Having a well-designed website with online booking capabilities
• Providing direct links to the booking page from your social media posts and marketing emails
• Offering compatibility with web browsers and mobile devices
• Deciding whether to demand up-front payment for the golf camp—a strategy that can help prevent last-minute dropouts

Run your golf course with ease

Behind every great golf course are tools to help you facilitate and organize your operations.

Lightspeed’s one-stop golf course management platform lets you save time when it comes to managing your membership packages, marketing and more.

Talk to one of our experts to learn more about how Lightspeed Golf can transform your course’s marketing and operations.