Kids at Bowden get golf lesson from former PGA tour player

More than 100 children came to Bowden Golf Course on Sunday to get a top notch introduction to the game.

The children were treated to a clinic by former PGA tour player Charlie Rymer, who now is co-host of the Morning Drive on the Golf Channel.

Brandon Doles, general manager of the golf course, said it was the first time the course had done the event. He said it was the idea of a couple of people who help out with the course and knew Rymer, who agreed to do it for free. In addition to getting free instruction, each child also got two free golf clubs and some food.

“This event is just one way to introduce them into the game of golf,” Doles said. “Hopefully this will be a recurring event.”

He said 138 children had signed up.

Rymer began by showing the youths the proper way to grip a club and how to align a shot. He urged them to focus on those two things as they learned the game and then add more later on.

He asked the children how many had never played golf and many raised their hands.

Rymer said he started playing golf when he was 5 years old, and he made his first birdie playing with his grandmother, after he put his approach shot a foot from the hole.

“She made me putt it out,” he said.

He went on to earn a scholarship to play golf at Georgia Tech and eventually played on the PGA Tour. He is about to turn 50, which makes him eligible for the senior tour, and he said he plans to play on that tour next year.

“It’s something that if you get hooked on it, even if you don’t get on the PGA tour or get a scholarship, you play your life and make some great friends,” he said.

He also said its a good way for young females to earn an athletic scholarship to a college.

“There are a lot of scholarship opportunities all across the country,” he said.

Rymer also did some reporting while he was at the course. In 1961 Bowden was the first public facility in Macon to integrate, a year before the bus system integrated. Rymer interviewed some of the men who were first black players to play on the course, after they had been caddies there for years.

“To hear about that first day that they were welcome to come out and play, for me was really special to hear, and to hear about how meaningful golf has been throughout their entire life,” he said.

This story was originally published November 26, 2017 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Kids at Bowden get golf lesson from former PGA tour player."