Even golf legend Jack Nicklaus would likely tell you that golf is one of the toughest games to master, let alone play. However, when it comes to Lawrence, golf seems to have a grip on young golfers who just keep coming back for more.

“I think a lot goes back to watching their parents,” said John Morris, Head Pro at Eagle Bend Golf Course. “I know for me I wanted to be on the golf course and play golf because it was what my dad was doing. From what I’ve heard from others, that’s the usual case from everyone, the parental influence.”

With that parental influence, it’s not uncommon for young golfers to start early, grow with it and playing casually, then developing a greater interest.

“I’ve been playing since I was four, and it’s always been a challenge but at the same time really fun for me,” said Evan Schmidt, a sophomore at Free State. “I like how it keeps me busy working on different aspects of my game, and I can always improve something.”

One of the challenges in golf is to overcome numerous occasions that wreak havoc with one’s game. Whether it’s more time needed at the range or maybe an outside opinion, golf is a game with many ways to go wrong. When this happens, which in any golfer’s case is often, it’s common to see frustration, even to the point of giving up. This can be especially true for younger golfers.

“When something’s going wrong with my game that I can’t fix while I’m on the course playing, I try spending more time at the driving range,” Schmidt said. “Hopefully it’s there I can figure out what it is that’s going wrong. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll take a lesson, to get someone else’s advice who knows more about the game.”

One of the sides to golf, as well as other sports is the memorable moments that tend to stick with each golfer. In golf, winning a tournament or a game against someone else isn’t the only pleasant memory possible, in fact those memories that seem to stick out the most are more about a specific shot or a round someone shot.

“My best round ever was earlier this year when I shot a 40 at the Lawrence Country Club,” Schmidt said. “I holed a birdie on the first whole, and I could tell from there that it was going to be a good day.”

Schmidt would later go on to keep the bogeys (a one stroke over par score for a hole) to a minimum and even added another birdie, which is good for plenty of golfers nationwide to say.

Teachers of the game see a lot into what the kid’s experience, and it’s their mentor’s help that can be most effective in helping kids get through.

“Most of the time kids have trouble hitting the ball because of balance,” Morris said. “It’s really common because most kids don’t automatically figure out how to exactly hit a golf ball, they need a little push through the door and all of a sudden, a light will turn on and they’ll hit the ball so much better. That’s the point where you can tell they’ll be back on the course again.”