Junior golf: the sequence that keeps a child playing
Buy by height and buy used, start on the putting green, use group clinics and twilight rates, and let winter be winter.
Children rarely give up because of the golf. They give up because they carried a bag that was too heavy, played eighteen holes too soon, or because a parent offered three tips per shot. The order that works.
Equipment that fits, bought used
A cut-down adult club does not become a junior club: the shaft stays too stiff and the head too heavy. Buy a junior set for the child’s height, second-hand, and change it when they grow. Four inches of growth means a new set — that is the normal rhythm.
Three clubs are enough for a long time: a wood, a mid-iron, a putter. A light bag the child carries themselves.
Start on the putting green
Putting is the only shot where a seven-year-old is immediately as good as an adult, and the only place where an hour passes without fatigue or frustration. The first sessions happen there, then in the chipping area. The driver comes much later.
Group programs rather than individual lessons
Golf Canada’s junior programming runs through clubs and public facilities under the Future Links banner, and provincial associations list local clinics; many municipal courses run their own junior camps in July and August. The group matters more than the quality of the coaching: a child comes back for their friends.
What the parent must not do
- Do not coach. The parent’s job is driving, paying and saying nothing about the swing.
- Do not keep score before the child asks for it.
- No eighteen holes. Three or six holes in the evening, and stop while it is still fun.
The format that sticks
Forward tees, reachable flags, nine holes as a scramble with an adult. Golf becomes a game in which you score rather than an exercise in which you fail.
Twilight rates are the Canadian secret
Most public courses drop their green fee sharply after five or six in the evening, and many let juniors on for a nominal amount with an adult. In June and July there is enough light for nine holes after dinner. That is the cheapest and most reliable way to build a golfer.
The rhythm, in a short season
One session a week from May to September is enough until ten. A child who wants two will ask; a child pushed into three stops at thirteen. And the winter is not a problem to be solved: hockey, skiing and skating are excellent golf preparation, and the swing comes back in May.
Handicaps and membership
A Golf Canada Handicap Index comes with club membership, and many facilities also sell a public Golf Canada membership directly — around C$59.95 plus tax when checked in September 2026, running April to March. Junior rates at clubs vary enormously; ask the club directly, and ask what a family membership costs before buying two individual ones.
