By: Josh Weinfuss

Source: The News Herald - Panama City, Florida

 

WaterSound

 

Dad plays. So does mom. And the kids, too.

 

But families don't often golf together.

 

That's why the PGA of America and its professionals are sponsoring the third annual Family golf Month during July, and one course in the area is participating.

 

Origins Golf Course, located west of Panama City Beach on U.S. 98, is a public course and will feature a variety of family oriented activities in the spirit of Family Golf Month.

 

"The biggest (reason) is to just promote the game of golf," said Jaxon Hardy, the head golf professional at Camp Creek, which operates Origins. "Get more people out there, more people playing. It's a hard game to just pick up, especially later on in life. It's going to help our industry as a whole. There's more and more people getting introduced to golf. The more we have, the better we have as far as memberships as a whole and golf courses as a whole."

 

One of Origins' most attractive family opportunities is a promotion that allows children under age 15 to play free with a playing adult. Adults pay $25 for a round.

 

Every Wednesday, starting at 2 p.m., a golf professional will take families on a tour of the course and offer instructions and tips to family members.

 

The course also offers a beginning teens tournament, open to the public, that enables golfers ages 11-18 to play in a two-person scramble every Tuesday at 2p.m. at Camp Creek through the summer months.

 

Designed by PGA Tour pro Davis Love III, Origins includes a six-hole regulation course and a 10-hole par 3 course. The course's mission was aimed at making golf fun, accessible and attractive to families, as well as casual and novice golfers.

 

Hardy suggests one reason why Origins is helping promote Family Golf Month and other courses in the area are not is because summer is their prime season for business.

 

"It's something we see that will help in the long run," he said.

 

The PGA of America also is sponsoring Take Your Daughter to the Course Week from Monday through July 13. Origins General Manager Will Hopkins said their daily kids-play-free special fits perfectly into what the PGA is trying to accomplish: get more youngsters on the course.

 

"It's an opportunity for us to grow the game, to reach out to people we can't at Camp Creek," Hopkins said. "In the middle of the summer it draws attention. It's just such a neat family sport. One of the drawbacks is that it's such an expensive sport, or can be, and that's another way the Origins course can fill another need."