Not long ago, Crooked River Ranch boasted what Pat Huffer describes as a “real active” junior golf program. Participation, though, began dwindling.

Most — if not all — of Central Oregon’s courses were affected by the slump, says Huffer, the head professional at Crooked River Ranch. The PGA over the years has rolled out programs to help boost participation and make golf more affordable. Huffer recalls being involved with those “politics” for years, noting how every time a new organization president came on board, another program was created to generate more interest in golf.

“But,” Huffer says, “nothing has ever worked as good as getting kids started at a young age and having programs targeted for kids.”

Enter: Youth on Course.

A program that began in Northern California in 2006 as a “nationwide initiative to grow the game,” according to its website, and to “increase the accessibility and affordability of golf” for young players, Youth on Course now includes more than 350 golf courses throughout the country, including 50 in Oregon and southwest Washington. Among Central Oregon courses currently offering the program are Crooked River Ranch, Meadow Lakes Golf Course in Prineville and Juniper Golf Course in Redmond.

Youth on Course makes golf more affordable for junior players. Golfers ages 7-18 who are members of Oregon Junior Golf, a regional golf program sponsored by the Oregon Golf Association, can play at participating Youth on Course facilities for just $5.

“We always need to focus on growing the game,” says Robyn Lorain, junior golf director for the OGA. “As golf professionals and being part of the industry, we believe that junior golf is the future. So we have to provide more access to the game for youth and help break down some of those barriers — cost being one of them — for junior golfers to be able to join the game at all levels.”

Since adopting Youth on Course, the OGA has already seen a spike in junior golf membership. In 2014, the OGA’s first year with the program, 170 junior golf members played 870 rounds at 16 courses. Last year, 748 members played more than 4,500 rounds at 45 courses.

“We want to encourage young golfers to play as much as they can,” says Zach Lampert, the head pro at Meadow Lakes. “We liked the formula, the way the program’s set up. At this point, over here, it’s just kind of education because a lot of kids don’t know about it. It’s new to the area. The more courses we can get involved and get the word out, that will help fill the program out on this side (of the Cascade mountains).”

The times during which junior golfers can capitalize on the Youth on Course discounts varies from course to course, but interested golfers can find participating courses and times at www.oregonyouthoncourse.org. Facilities that participate in the program are subsidized by the OGA, Lorain says.

“That’s not really the goal for us,” Lampert says about Meadow Lakes making a profit from Youth on Course. “It’s not about the money. It’s more to give the kids a chance to get on the course for a reasonable price.”

The goal, Lampert adds, is that the younger generation begins playing more golf. Because while Huffer says the sport “is not dying,” it certainly could use a boost in youth participation.

“All the (Central Oregon) clubs, in different ways, spend a lot of time working on answering that question: how to get more kids involved,” Lampert says. “We’ve done a lot of things (junior associations and clinics, for example), and this is just another avenue for the kids to have a chance to play golf.”

“If you don’t get the kids involved,” Huffer says, “they’re not going to drag their parents along with them sometimes. I got started at a young age and I just think it’s really important.”

—Reporter: 541-383-0307, 
glucas@bendbulletin.com.