Watson lends star power to Mozingo golf camp
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
PGA champion golfer Tom Watson offers a few tips to a young player at the Watson 9 junior golf course on Saturday. The children are holding SNAG clubs, instructional gear designed to help beginners master the game’s fundamentals. SNAG stands for Starting New at Golf.
The Youth Golf Camp season at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park got underway Saturday with the assistance of a very special instructor — PGA golf great and five-time British Open champion Tom Watson.
Watson has become a familiar face at Mozingo over the last three years, ever since he agreed to design the nine-hole Watson 9 junior golf course.
The course opened for the first time in 2016 following a million-dollar fundraising campaign led by Dr. Bruce Twaddle, a local dentist who committed himself to bringing more children and teens to the game after a trip to Scotland, where he noticed a sign at a young-person’s course that read: “No adults allowed unless under the direct supervision of a child.”
With that vision in mind, Twaddle reached out to Watson, and the Kansas City golf legend’s readiness to lend his name and expertise to the project helped propel an unlikely dream into reality.
About 60 children and their families — most with clubs in hand — were on hand to greet Watson on Saturday. A few minutes after arriving on a perfect early summer morning, the champion gathered with a large group of youngsters in front of a bronze statue of himself near the Watson 9 first tee.
“Does anybody know who that old man is?” Watson asked before creating his own photo op by telling the kids to “throw your hands up in the air and yell ‘I love golf.’”
Then, as the children were divided into various age groups, Watson followed along, offering instruction and words of encouragement here and there as instructors like Brenda Ricks, the Maryville High School golf coach, talked about grips and swings and foot position.
“It’s awesome,” said Mozingo golf pro Kyle Easter about Watson’s appearance on the first day of what will be four three-day youth golf clinics scheduled between now and the first week of August.
“It’s a blessing and a unique opportunity for Mozingo and all these kids.”
From the beginning, Easter said, Watson has expressed an interest in being involved with the course that bears his name, and which has been designated one of the top 15 “hybrid” — that is shorter, non-traditional courses — in the nation by Golf Digest magazine.
“This course is kept at the same quality as our championship course (Sechrest 18),” Easter said. “It’s just a little less intimidating. It’s a great course to start on.”
Those attending golf camp opening day included local chiropractor Kevan Evans and his two sons, 8-year-old Derek and 10-year-old Ethan, both of whom participate in the PGA Youth League of Northwest Missouri, which stages competitions at Watson 9 and other area courses.
“It’s nice to see (Derek and Ethan) playing golf and enjoying it,” Evans said. “It’s a sport they can play the rest of their lives.”
He added that the Watson 9, with its shorter fairways and ball-capturing greens, cuts down on the frustration sometimes experienced by young golfers confronting the relative vastness of an 18-hole layout.
“It’s tailor-made for the kids, and it works better for them,” Evans said. “I can play it with them, and it’s challenging for all of us. So it’s a family affair.”
Among the instructors on hand for Saturday’s event was former Maryville High School golf standout Hunter Hayes, now a student at Northwest Missouri State University.
Hayes spent part of the morning entertaining a group of boys by sinking exceptionally long putts on the practice green then doing 10 or 15 pushups whenever he missed.
“I love it,” Hayes said of teaching the sport. “This is where I started, and I had a whole lot of people that I looked up to. I enjoy watching kids have a good time and playing and succeeding at the game. It reminds me of when I was that age and how much fun I was having.”
Sisters-in-law Jennifer Arndt and Angie Arndt, who have family in Maryville, drove with their sons Jacob, 15, and Eli, 11, all the way from the central Nebraska town of Hampton just so the kids could meet Watson and play some golf at what is rapidly becoming a regional recreation destination.
“We’re excited to be back,” said Jennifer Arndt, who made the drive with Jacob last year as well. “I’m pretty sure this will be an annual thing. I love it here. It’s beautiful.”
As for Watson, he looked exactly like a man having a lot of fun, smiling graciously and signing autographs and posing for photos whenever anyone asked.
“What I’m seeing here is a bunch of enthusiastic kids,” he said. “That’s what I love about this program. They’re ready to rumble, and they’re learning the fundamentals and acquiring a passion for the game.”
Asked why he has remained committed to the youth program at Mozingo now that the Watson 9 course is completed, Watson said simply that making it easier for young people to take up golf is something that brings him immense satisfaction.
“This isn’t labor,” he said. “This is a project that you do for the love of the game — and I love the game. I’ve played the game all of my life. I’m 67, and I plan to keep playing the game until I can’t walk.”
Three golf camp sessions remain on the calendar at Mozingo this summer. Session two runs June 24 (8 a.m.-11a.m.), June 25 (1 p.m.-4 p.m.) and June 26 (8 a.m.-11a.m.); session three runs July 15 (8 a.m.-11 a.m.), July 16 (1 p.m.-4 p.m.) and July 17 (8 a.m.-11a.m.); and session 4 runs Aug. 5 (8 a.m.-11a.m.), Aug 6 (1 p.m.-4 p.m.) and Aug 7 (8 a.m.-11 a.m.).
Cost is $40.00 per session. For details, go to mozingolake.com/golf/junior-golf.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Professional golfer Tom Watson, center left, leads a group of children in shouting the phrase “I love golf” at the start of Saturday’s Mozingo Lake Recreation Park Youth Golf Camp. The three-day session — the first of four scheduled this summer — centered around a nine-hole course designed by Watson in 2015 and completed last year.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Golf great Tom Watson poses with Josie King, left, and Emmy Laur of Tarkio during opening day of Youth Golf Camp on Saturday at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
A group of young golfers look on as former Maryville High School golf standout Hunter Hayes sights in a 15-foot putt on the practice green at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park. Hayes is serving as an instructor this summer during a series of three-day Youth Golf Camp sessions set to continue through the first week of August.
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Maryville High School golf coach Brenda Ricks leads a Starting New at Golf session during Saturday’s opening Youth Golf Camp session at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park. More than 200 young people are expected to participate in this summer’s program, which centers around the Watson 9 course designed by PGA golf great Tom Watson.
