Craig kids show skills at junior golf final

You never know where the next Tiger Woods prodigy will emerge, and the young players from northwest Colorado have shown that they have a bright future on the golf course.

The Yampa Valley Youth Golf Club hosted its first Drive, Chip & Putt Challenge on August 19 at the Yampa Valley Golf Course, featuring players ages 5 to 13 showcasing their talent.

After 10 weeks of training, the young athletes showed their skills in driving, chipping and putting.

Instead of following the rules of stroke play, golfers attempted to achieve a higher score by using the distance and straightness of their drives, the precision of their chipping onto the green, and the ability to hole a putt—or at least be considered the closest to the pin.

Each player received a total score based on their combined efforts across the three sections. Camden Loya won the 5-7 age group, Trace Binder was the winner of the 8-9 age group, and Jack Veenstra was the winner of the 10-13 group.

While 16 young golfers took part in the event, about twice as many took part in the junior golf sessions in the summer.

Trini Loya coached the group, which included high school-aged students.

“We worked mainly on the fundamentals, helping them with their stance and showing them how to hit the ball,” he said. “Then we moved on to some of the more fun events, like chipping into a hula hoop. We geared them more towards overcoming that challenge and learning how to hit really far.”

Loya added that although most players are completely new to the game, their progress is clearly visible almost three months after starting training.

Although some participants had difficulty holding up a racket at first, it was worth helping them learn the mechanics.

“I think in the end they all had a pretty good sense of the game and the etiquette on the court,” Loya said. “We didn't want to be too strict about anything, we just wanted to have fun.”