Weiser golf camp celebrates 30 years of introducing youth to the game

Monday, June 15, marked the 30th year of Joe Malay’s weeklong kids golf camp at Rolling Hills Golf Course. Continuing Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, the camp was put on through the Weiser City Recreation Department and was for kids ages four through 18.                 
 This year, 63 kids participated in the camp. Throughout the week, these kids learned the basic fundamentals of golf and all the different golf clubs. All the helpers, including high school golfers, coaches, and community members, guided the kids in how to hold, hit, and aim with each club.     
 Monday focused on the putter, Tuesday the irons, and Thursday the woods. On Friday, the kids put all the skills they had learned throughout the week together to play a round of modified scramble. They split into groups and were able to play some holes on the course.  
 While the campers go through the drills and games, Malay and all the helpers make sure it is a safe environment so no one will get any injuries.
 “The basic of the whole camp is to be safe and have fun,” Malay said.
 The most fun part of the camp is prize Friday. This occurs after the game of scramble when the campers return to the club house.
 The prizes were a vast variety, ranging from candy, beans, piggy banks, chips, pickles, to the biggest prize, the tent. All the prizes were scattered throughout the practice green, attached to strings that flowed into a large pile. The kids took turns choosing a random string to follow to their prize. Malay and everyone else made sure to have enough prizes for every camper so no one would be left out.
 Malay loves putting this camp on because not only is it a way to share his love for golf, it also is a way to give back to the great community of Weiser.
 “I was a junior who couldn’t afford to play golf, and I love to give back. To have the kids pay a small fee for a couple days plus a prize seems very reasonable. For all the kids without clubs, we let them use ones that we’ve collected throughout the years, about 400 in different shapes and sizes. We are also fortunate to be able to give away many golf balls to the campers,” Malay said.
 The kids make the camp very enjoyable for Malay and the other helpers, with how they act, play, and say.
 “You never know what they’re going to say, what they’re going to do, how they’re going to hit it, or when they hit a good shot,” Malay said. “It’s really fun to have them stand there and say, ‘one, two, three, hello this, hello that.’ I’m a kid at heart and any time I can pass it on and help the kids it’s worth it,” Malay continued.
 This camp not only teaches kids about the game of golf, but brings joy and laughter to everyone involved as well. Thanks to the great community and the rec department of Weiser, this camp has been going for three decades, and will continue for many more years to come.
 

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Signal American

18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
PH: (208) 549-1717
FAX: (208) 549-1718
 

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