Planting the seeds of a lifetime sport: Country Club of Greenfield’s Youth Golf Camp celebrating 34th year this week
Published: 06-24-2025 5:00 PM
Modified: 06-24-2025 5:22 PM |
GREENFIELD — Country Club of Greenfield PGA Professional Kevin Piecuch has been running a summer youth camp for the last 34 years at the club, with interest in golf continuing to grow in the region and around the country.
The youth camp — which is running from Monday through Thursday this week — has had 45 participants each of the last two years. The goal of the camp is to introduce kids the game of golf, teach them the basics and hope to make them fans for life.
“There’s a lot of interest in the game,” Piecuch said. “You want to expose these kids to the game at a young age. Most of the kids in the camp are 6-10 years old and it’s almost 50-50 with boys and girls which is fantastic. The last two years we’ve seen a big increase in girls in the camp.”
Doing this camp for so long, Piecuch has seen his pupils grow up to love golf and turn it into something they’ll do for the rest of their lives.
Whether it’s their first time ever holding a club or someone trying to get more experience, Piecuch’s hope is that they stick with the sport after the camp, knowing that the best way to create a fan or player for life is to get them playing at a young age.
“The kids enjoy it,” Piecuch said. “Most of them have fun. Some of them have never held a club before, some have. There’s some good little players here. In our 34 years doing this, we have had some kids who attended this camp grow into PGA members, we’ve had kids who have played at the Division I, II and III level in college. It’s now as big as it’s ever been and we’ve had some really good players come through his camp when they were kids.”
The four-day camp is an introduction to the sport, covering all the different things that go into completing a round to give golfers the knowledge needed during their journey into the sport.
“We’re just trying to get a club in their hands,” Piecuch said. “We want to see them make contact with a golf ball and go over all aspects of the game with them, from chipping, putting and full shots. On Thursday, we take them out to the course and expose them to the whole thing. By the end, hopefully they’re ready to play some golf with their parents or whoever else might want to take them out. It’s an opportunity for the kids to gradually move into playing more and eventually playing in more competitive stuff.”
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Golf has always been popular in Franklin County and that interest has only grown since COVID-19. While the shutdowns hurt most sports, golf was one of the few that was able to thrive in the environment as being outdoors and spaced out was the perfect way to socialize and get exercise at the height of the pandemic.
That interest hasn’t stopped. Piecuch has seen more of an interest in the youth camp while CCG is in a great spot with memberships.
“COVID, as far as golf, helped jump start more interest for sure,” Piecuch said. “Now we’re five years out from COVID and people are still playing golf. The sport is in a good spot. I think the PGA Tour and the guys on Tour are doing a good job keeping ratings up.”
The camp isn’t the only way to get younger kids on the course. CCG hosts the Steve Kells Junior Tournament which gives youth golfers a chance to compete in a scramble, and also offers a Pre-Junior membership to any golfer 17-and-under for just $75 for the season.
“I think the game is growing,” Piecuch said. “More parents have been exposed to the game. Golf is a game that anybody can play. There are a lot of parents out there who are concerned about their kids playing a contact sport. Golf is a non-contact sport and it’s an individual sport where you don’t need teammates to play. You can play it by yourself which has helped it grow.”
Piecuch isn’t alone in running the camp. Sean Doyle — CCG’s Assistant Golf Professional who also coaches the Mohawk Trail/Greenfield High School varsity co-op team — works with the kids along with Jason Bourque, South Hadley High School golf coach, and Gunnar Moore, a recent Deerfield Academy alum who is heading to play golf at Hamilton College in the fall.
“Sean does a great job with the kids and it’s great having Jason and Gunnar helping with the camp as well,” Piecuch said. “Gunner is one of our more successful Juniors who came up through this and is a great person to teach the kids.”