Young guns take part in Junior Ryder Cup Academy
Second Ryder Cup Junior Academy was held at the PGA Village. After the success in 2011, PGA of America decided to go on with the idea of training young golfers along the lines of the Ryder Cup.
This year, over 83 young golfers from all over America took part in a week long training program. Among them were the teens from Wind Stone, Ryann McCuistion and Alex Haralson, both of them aiming to represent USA in the Ryder Cup once in their life.
The first edition of the Junior Ryder Cup Academy was held in 2011. The aim of the academy is to guide young golfers about the rules and the style of play applied in the Ryder Cup.
Apart from explaining the style of play, there were high profile coaches who worked on each individual specifically. They worked on their golf swings, they also explained about the idea of course management and last but not the least, there was emphasis
on physical fitness.
PGA of America has made 41 sections and from each section, two young golfers, a male and a female, were selected to take part in the Ryder Cup Academy.
The schedule at the academy was very intense. Nevertheless, golfing tips from the Ryder Cup legends Casper and Finsterwald aided the young golfers.
Ryaan and Alex were extremely jubilant after their trip to the PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Both of them have their eyes set on the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup.
"We would start in the morning and practice for about three hours; then we wouldd have lunch; then we would walk 18 holes," McCuiston said. "Each day it was a different format".
The duo from Wind Stone had the time of their lives as they made numerous friends over a course of one week. "I got a lot of great instruction and it's helped my game so much," Haralson said. "It was a great week".
There were some weaknesses in Haralson’s swing. He had problems making long iron shots but after the expert guidance from the coaches it started to look better for him.
Allen Wronowski, the head PGA of America, was extremely happy with the results and the turnout he had seen over the last two years.
This entire training program is fully sponsored by the PGA of America and the Ryder Cup players also donate some part of their earnings to run this program.
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