Tanner Byrne of Eudora putts during Eagle Bend's junior nine-hole golf league.

Retirees and businessmen on extended lunch breaks aren’t the only people golfing Monday afternoons at Eagle Bend Golf Course. The course sees a youth movement at about 2 p.m. every Monday this summer when boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 17 tee off for the Junior Nine-Hole League.

John Morris, golf operations supervisor at Eagle Bend, said the league provides young golfers with a chance to play competitively without too much pressure.

“The biggest goal for our junior league is to get them to play,” Morris said. “The number two goal is to get them used to playing in a tournament setting where their score counts.”

Morris said 35 golfers signed up for this year’s league. Each will have a chance to play nine holes once a week for six weeks. The two worst scores will be dropped and a low score champion will be crowned for the different age groups.

Beginning and experienced golfers will feel a little pressure with this format, Morris said, and that is a good way for them to develop the mental toughness needed to succeed at golf.

“I think the biggest thing is just the experience of getting out there and having a little pressure put on you. When everybody’s watching you tee off and everyone’s kind of waiting on you to hit your shot, I think that’s a big deal,” Morris said.

Levels of expertise vary in the league. Some are just getting started; others play for their high school teams. Connor Klutman, 15, falls into the former category. He just started playing golf last year and this will mark his first time playing competitively. Ideally, he’d like to win, but he has set realistic goals.

“Just do my best every week and maybe good things will happen,” Klutman said. Along the way, he is learning about his golf game and admitted he has more weaknesses than strengths right now.

“I have a slight hook in my irons that I need to fix and my putting could be a little bit stronger,” he said.

One of the perks for the Eagle Bend junior league is that players can pair with their friends. Klutman plays nine holes with his friend Seth McCauley, 16. McCauley is a little more experienced than his buddy – he’s been playing three years – and plays on Free State’s golf team.

“I took on this league because one of my goals this summer is to improve in the offseason in between playing at Free State,” McCauley said.

Due to the competitive and serious level of golf he plays at Free State, McCauley believed he would benefit more from playing in this league than playing strictly for fun this summer.

“It’s a big change going from just playing a round of golf with your buddies or your parents,” he said of high school golf. “I like this league because it’s keeping a sense of that competitive edge – not as strong – but to the point where I don’t lose all sense of it in the offseason and come back (next year) and get whooped.”

Although Morris said there is a lot of good things about the Eagle Bend junior league, he would like to see more girls come out for it. The current boys to girls ratio is a staggering 33-to-2. He said the league welcomes and needs girl golfers.

After all, playing in the league has its advantages for either gender.

“I get to play with one of my good golfing buddies, Seth McCauley,” Klutman said. “That’ll be pretty nice and just the fact that I can be out here every Monday.”