Underprivileged Calgary youth hit links in new Golf Canada program

Dozens of Calgary kids are getting to know the joys — and frustrations — of golf, thanks to a Canada-wide initiative.

RBC Community Junior Golf and Golf Canada are partnering with the city and its McCall Lake course to teach a handful of young people about the sport.

The kids were hand-picked with some help from the Centre for Newcomers and Immigrant Services.

They’ll spend three days this week receiving free lessons from pros like Mike Fahey.

“The program is basically just introducing the game to kids that might not have the opportunity otherwise,” Fahey said.

“They’ll all have the opportunity here to get taught the basics and the fundamentals, have the proper equipment and just make it a little fun.”

The initiative, which has been running since 2022, has already brought in more than 20,000 participants aged five to 18 years old.

This year, it expanded to Calgary for the first time.

McCall Lake was chosen as the program site because of its accessibility to public transit and proximity to community centres.

“Not only are they learning the fundamental skills of golf, they’re also learning some life skills, like confidence and perseverance,” the City of Calgary’s Gennie Liu said.

“With the help of our coaches and by motivating our children, they’re never going to give up.”

“They’re also learning some social skills,” Fahey said.

“A lot of these times, the kids are exchanging numbers after the classes are over and they’ll build a friendship.”

Registration to the program is not available to the public.

Instead, participating municipalities try to target in-need schools and community centres.

For more information, visit the RBC Community Junior Golf webpage.