Youth Day: Kids have their day at John Deere Classic

“I want to golf and have fun.” Colton Keimig summed up the John Deere Classic golf tournament goals for many people on Wednesday, July 2, at TPC at Deere Run in Silvis. The 9-year-old was one of several hundred kids and young people at the golf course Wednesday to enjoy a day filled with fun […]

“I want to golf and have fun.” Colton Keimig summed up the John Deere Classic golf tournament goals for many people on Wednesday, July 2, at TPC at Deere Run in Silvis. The 9-year-old was one of several hundred kids and young people at the golf course Wednesday to enjoy a day filled with fun activities as part of the First Tee Youth Day, sponsored by First Tee of the Quad Cities. (First Tee is a youth development organization that enables kids to build the strength of character by seamlessly integrating the game of golf with a life skills curriculum.) The day was filled with golf-related fun that included a Breakfast of Champions event at 8 a.m., free goodie bags for the first 750 kids, and a Youth Clinic hosted by entertainer Dan Boever at 2 p.m. on the Deere Run’s driving range. While Colton and his dad Kalen Keimig enjoyed those activities, they also were interested in some traditional golf fun.

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“They have a great atmosphere out here. … It’s good to come out and enjoy some golf with my boy,” said Mr. Keimig, of Silvis. Colton also was enjoying the day by getting a lot of autographs from the PGA Tour golfers. The father-son team bought a John Deere Classic golf flag and already had six autographs on it by mid-morning. They planned to have the flag filled with signatures by the day’s end. Not far away from the Keimig family, Owen Teeling of Denver, Iowa, was enjoying the Youth Day events with two of his sons – Ayden, 11, and Beckett, 9. They also had their own JDC golf flag that they were going to use to get signatures. “We’re hoping to get this (golf flag) filled today. … It’s been a good day to have fun,” Mr. Teeling said. Ayden and Beckett added that a big part of the fun was getting the bags filled with free goodies. Those bags were handed out by a small army of volunteers inside the Fan Zone Building on Wednesday. By 10:30 a.m., hundreds of kids were lined up outside the building to get the bags. Some of the free gifts included a bobblehead of last year’s JDC champ, Davis Thompson, a JDC towel, a fan, bug spray, coupons for an ice cream treat from Whitey’s Ice Cream, a coupon for a free hot dog lunch and much more. Maria Lussi, an employee with Dick’s House of Sport, Davenport, was one of the volunteers helping hand out the freebie bags Wednesday. Even though it was a hectic morning, she was having a great time with the kids. “I love this. I’ve come here (to the golf course) to go to the concerts, but this is my first time as a volunteer,” she added. A few feet away from Ms. Lussi, some of the parents were getting a moment to recover and relax inside the air-conditioned Fan Zone Building after surviving the long lines for goodies and the day’s hot weather. One of those parents was Jenny Holloway of Chicago. “This is my first time here. This is my first golf event of any kind. … We’ve been getting some autographs and went to the driving range. It’s been a lot of fun, but it's really hot out here,” said Ms. Holloway, who was at Youth Day with her 14-year-old son and one of his friends. The hot weather conditions were on many people’s minds once they left the cool Fan Zone. Some of the most popular places Wednesday for kids and their parents were the several Whitey’s Ice Cream tables set up in different locations around the course. Daniel Garcia of Moline was in charge of the Whitey’s table near hole 9. He said he was kept busy selling a variety of ice cream treats, such as chocolate malts, the root beer ace, cookies ‘n cream shakes, a cherry slush float called the Cherry Ace. “It’s been pretty good all day. … Probably the Cherry Ace has been the best seller,” he added. While the ice cream treats and free goodies bags were a hit with many kids, the game of golf was still the main attraction for many spectators and fans. One of those young golfers was Ty Hamilton, 11, of Washington, Iowa. He spent much of the morning at the putting green with his dad, practicing his short game before the JDC Pro-Am Tournament. “I just like walking around and doing stuff here. … I like this because I get to golf and have fun,” he added.