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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DD (10) recently started golf and seems to really enjoy it. We've also been told that she has some natural ability. Thinking ahead, is this the kind of sport where kids need lots of expensive one-on-one coaching to be good enough for their high school team?  Just trying to get a sense of what's typically required to be competitive. [/quote]

I've gone through this with three kids.  They are now 22, 20 and 18 years old.  Golf is a very expensive sport if you want to get serious about it, and[b] I spent about 25k/year, per kids.[/b]  None of them are playing golf in college but the oldest one found out that golf has really helped him with his corporate career.  He played with the company CFO and was recently promoted over five other people who are much qualified than he is, and that his salary is more than doubled.  Go figure.[/quote]

Wow. Did you feel like that level of expenditure was necessary just to compete at the high school level?  Was that for both girls and boys or do you only have sons?[/quote]

I'm not the original poster, but rather the 2nd poster who suggested you test the waters by entering your daughter in a US Kids local tournament. These are friendly, fun tournaments and the kids quickly become friends with each other. You'll be able to pick the other parent's brains in regard to their coaching strategies.

IMO, you don't need to spend 25K a year unless your goal is to develop a collegiate-level player, or unless you want your daughter to be the very best on the high school golf team. If one's goal is to simply make the high school team, and if she has natural athleticism, I think you could use the following low-cost teaching sequence:

Phase 1: a package of 5 or 6 group lessons (a small group of kids being taught at the same time), with a cost of around $300, in which your daughter will be introduced to the basics: how to grip the club, how to stand, posture, basic swing mechanics.

Phase 2: a package of 5 to 10 individual private lessons, spaced at one-month intervals. Cost = between $100 and $150 per 60-minute lesson

Phase 3: play golf! Try to play at least once every couple of weeks. Stick with small courses, like East Potomac Park's red course, or Jefferson's 9 hole course, or Burke Lake. You may be able to link up with other parents who are introducing their kids to the game, so that a group of 2 or 3 kids can have fun playing together.

Phase 4: enter a few local US Kids tournaments, just for the experience. In fact, you can do this right away if you want. Don't be nervous about going up against well-trained, experienced players. There are plenty of beginners who enter in these tournaments.

If she is athletic, if she enjoys the game, and if she continues to play on regular basis, she can become a solid high school golfer. And if she has natural talent, she may leap-frog over other kids who have invested thousands of hours in private lessons and practice rounds.
 [/quote]

Meanwhile, they will be competing against kids whose parents have country club memberships that enable them to be on the course more often and working with club pros [/quote]

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