ROGERS, Ark. — With the Pro-Am underway at the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Championship, and with the main championship event starting Friday, local organizations in Rogers helped local kids get in on the golf action.
“If we can just move somebody's self belief and confidence just a little bit, I think I've done my job,” University of Arkansas Women’s Golf Coach and Founder of Choose Confidence Shauna Taylor said.
A coach at the U of A for 22 years, Taylor said she founded Choose Confidence to help kids build their confidence starting at a young age.
As of now, Taylor said her organization serves eight elementary schools, and over 2,000 students.
With some of the country’s best ladies golf professionals taking center stage at the LPGA event, local kids were able to have fun playing golf and partake in other activities at the Kids Confidence Club between the 17th and 18th holes at the Pinnacle Hills Country Club.
"As a coach, I want to make sure that we're continuing to build a legacy for for the people behind,” Taylor said. “The kids that were here at my program today are eight, nine years old. I would love for them to come and play at the University of Arkansas, and to have that opportunity. And what better way than to expose them to an event like this.”
Another local group, First Tee Northwest Arkansas, is also trying to inspire kids to play the game of golf. They are also working to get more young girls into the game as well.
“We've seen an increase of registrations for our girls class, and then we've also seen more interest from schools that we partner with, wanting to get their girls, their athletic girls, more into an individual sport that they can play their whole life,” Director of Programs and Operations for First Tee NWA Madison Peterson said.
Peterson said one of the organization's classes, Take a Swing, helps expose young girls to the game of golf. She said the class is not just geared towards teaching the game of golf, but valuable life lessons like making good friendships and having good sportsmanship.
At their Lowell facility, Peterson added they also have an LPGA USGA Girls Golf branch. She said every year they have a free event for a girl of any age to come out and enjoy the game with their parents.
Peterson said she hopes that local LPGA events, like the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Championship, helps inspire a new generation of young female golfers in the area.
“I think it's just so empowering to see you know someone who is so similar to you on a big stage,” Peterson said. “They're trying to do everything they can to bring more and more people to come watch these girls and help them feel confident and empowered and help them play their game. And it's just awesome to see everyone come together to try to support women in this sport altogether."
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