A youth movement zoomed through the John Deere Classic (JDC) on Wednesday, July 5.
The movement consumed just about all things associated with golf at TPC Deere Run in Silvis. More than 500 young people from across the Quad Cities region made the golf course their home for a day of fun, food, golf lessons and lots of autographs during Youth Day activities.
The annual youth event was presented by First Tee – Quad Cities, an organization that looks to empower young people through golf.
Youth Day featured a wide variety of events and prizes for young people including a breakfast and lunch, a Youth Clinic hosted by PGA Tour pro Wesley Bryan, and goodie bags with bobbleheads and other items for the first 500 young people.
“It was just a fantastic day. It was amazing,” said Sara McLaughlin-Cross, executive director of First Tee Quad Cities. “We had over 130 people for our breakfast. … We had over 500 kids at the events.”
While many of the young golf fans enjoyed the wide variety of events, there seemed to be one person on the minds of many of the youngsters – University of Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark.
“I’m here to get Caitlin Clark’s autograph,” Cameron Carter, 8, of Moline, said as he waited with his mother, Amanda Carter, for the Hawkeye superstar to show up for an autograph session at the Youth Clinic at the TPC Driving Range.
“We just heard someone call it ‘Caitlin Clark Day’ and we can’t blame them,” according to a post on the First Tee Facebook page.
Others, like Olivia Warthan, 11, of Maquoketa, Iowa, also were waiting around hoping for a autograph from Ms. Clark. “I’m really excited about getting that autograph,” she added.
Many young people like Olivia and Cameron also got a kick out of one of the biggest events on Wednesday – the Youth Clinic featuring PGA Tour pro Wesley Bryan (and Ms. Clark who was on hand to sign autographs.)
During the clinic, Mr. Bryan told stories from his early days in golf, visited with the kids and gave a few lessons in the sport.
“I started playing golf at the age of 4 and realized I wanted to do it for a living at 15,” said the golf pro, who has one PGA Tour win and seven top 10 finishes on The Tour.
For much of the clinic, though, the golf pro demonstrated his golf abilities by hitting a golf ball and breaking several panes of glass set up on TPC’s driving range.
After a few misses – and many of the kids shouting out what club he should use for his next shot – Mr. Bryan joked: “Below-average golfers hit below-average shots. That shouldn’t surprise anybody.”
But after a few shots, the golf balls hit their mark and the glass panes started to shatter.
In addition to the golf demonstration, Mr. Bryan visited with the children, let them hit a few golf balls and had a short conversation on their favorite Pokeman characters during the Youth Clinic. (The clinic was delayed an hour because of fears of stormy weather Wednesday afternoon.)
While the clinic was a big hit for the hundreds of young people who attended, many of the parents said they enjoyed seeing some of the many golf activities and spending time with the kids.
“We’ve been here before. This is something we really enjoy, going to the holes and seeing the golfers,” said Sarah Nelson of Davenport, who was at Youth Day with her son, Brenly, 10. For Brenly, one of his favorite parts of the day was going to the gift shops.
For others enjoying Youth Day, the day was all about family time. “For me, this is just about spending time with my son and seeing everything. It’s really been neat,” said Mrs. Carter, who was at the event with her son, Cameron.
But for a lot of parents, much of the day centered around one activity – getting that one special autograph. For instance, Dan Hildebrand of Blue Grass, Iowa, was at the event with his son, Noah, 11.
Mr. Hildebrand said he was happy that his son accomplished his big goal on the day.
“He got an autograph of Caitlin Clark. So, that made things pretty special,” he added.
