ESCONDIDO — The Escondido High School boys and girls golf teams recently received new golf club sets from Southern California Professional Golfers Association’s ClubsForeYouth program, which aims to increase opportunities for students to participate in the sport.
The Cougars golf program received 12 new sets of clubs split evenly between the boys’ and girls’ teams. The sets include bags, clubs, balls, gloves, hats and towels. The students also have access to four clinics with PGA-certified professionals to help them improve their games.
Coach Tom Winter, who has coached at EHS since 1995, said that the sets were greatly needed for the growing golf teams.
Winter said golf has become more popular since students returned to campus full-time following the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Winter, the Cougars girls’ team only had eight players during the pandemic, but that number jumped to 15 the following year once students returned. For the boys, the team also experienced growth in its numbers as well.
While the increased interest in high school golf is welcome, finding enough sets for everyone can be difficult due to the expense.
“Finding equipment for these students is really tough,” Winter said. “It’s about $400 to $800 per player with all the drivers, wedges, shoes, jerseys and everything else.”
While it may seem spendy, teams need the necessary gear to compete successfully.
“It’s a very expensive sport,” Winter said. “They need all this stuff to be effective and compete with other schools.”
The Southern California PGA Foundation created its ClubsForeYouth to address this exact issue for schools that need an extra hand in helping student golfers get all the right equipment. The program also aims to encourage female students to play more golf.
ClubsForeYouth donated the 12 golf sets to Escondido High School in partnership with the Shiley Foundation, a Pauma Valley-based private foundation that funds biomedical resources and provides grants for students.
Winter has noticed an increased interest in golf beyond just his students, noting that more millennials seem to be enjoying the sport than before.
“It’s hard to get on the courses sometimes on the weekend with my son,” he said, adding that his son also plays on the boys’ team. “There’s this revitalization where people are realizing that it’s a really fun sport that they can do while hanging out with their family.”
Winter, who coaches the girls’ team, likes to remind his players and their parents, particularly the dads, that golf is something they can bond over.
“If your daughter gets into this and she likes it, you’re going to have a captive audience in a 15-, 16- or 17-year-old who doesn’t always want to hang out with dad at her age,” he said. “But if you have this in common, you’ll have a captive audience who will want to play with you for the rest of your lives together.”
Winter said golf could sometimes help players advance their careers, recalling one of his former players who eventually received promotions through the consulting firm she worked for after golfing with the higher-ups.
“More business deals get done on the golf course than anywhere else,” Winter said.
After more than two decades of coaching girls’ golf for Escondido High School, Winter plans to retire soon so that he can spend more time with family, which also includes finding more time to hit the courses with his son.
