Move over Punt, Pass & Kick. The Drive, Chip & Putt Championship is coming in.
Like that famous 50-year-old football skills competition for kids that culminates with a championship decided in the NFC and AFC championships, golf has come up with its own version and it will be determined on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National Golf Club the Sunday before next year’s Masters.
Boys and girls in four age groups (7-9, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15) will earn points in each skill at 110 local qualifying events nationwide. The top two performers in each age group will advance to regional championships and those winners will come to Augusta to compete in the finals.
After driving and chipping, the national finals will be decided with the putting competition on the 18th green at Augusta National, where so many pros dreams have lived and died.
“Hopefully we’ll get to see some of the gestures we’ve seen around here in the Masters,” Masters chairman Billy Payne said.
The Drive, Chip and Putt Championship was the brainchild of a coalition of the Masters Tournament Foundation, the U.S. Golf Association (USGA) and The PGA of America in its continued effort “grow the game” of golf among America’s youth.
According to Glen Nager, president of the USGA, there has been a 30 percent decline in participation in junior golf. As a result, the Masters and American golf’s two major governing bodies came together in what Payne described as a “wonderful collaboration.”
“It’s our collective hope and belief that this quest to make it to Augusta National will become the dream of kids all over the country and their participation will inspire others to make the effort,” Payne said. “So I say to all moms and dads, go to drivechipandputt.com and begin your child’s journey to Augusta.”
As part of the “Grow the Game” initiative, the Masters and British Open in 2008 began allowing free admission to children age 8 to 16 as long as they were with a ticketed adult.
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