Kids Experience an Open House at Senior Open

By USGA

| Aug 11, 2016

A group of young golfers from The First Tee of Central Ohio and the local LPGA-USGA Girls Golf chapter got a behind-the-scenes tour of the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto this week. As part of the USGA's mission to serve golfers with a variety of exposures to the game, the kids had the opportunity to get a glimpse into what goes on at a USGA championship.

The day began with a visit to Scioto's course maintenance building, where they saw some of the equipment that goes into preparing a golf course for a championship.

They continued to the Fox Sports broadcast facility and got a tour of the large trailer that houses the control room.

After a visit to the Lexus Performance Tent, where the kids took their photos with the U.S. Senior Open trophy and took turns at putting and driving simulators, they visited the media center and had the chance to meet and ask questions of eight-time USGA champion Jack Nicklaus, who learned the game at Scioto (see photos, below).

"The goal is to inspire or spark an interest that goes beyond playing the game," said Beth Major, the USGA's director of community outreach. "It was really exciting to see them make a connection to things they are learning in school, especially in the areas of science and technology."

By creating experiences like the one at Scioto this week, the USGA hopes to make its championships open and accessible to the communities where they are played.

"Through these special events, we are able to use our greatest stages, our national championships, to introduce various audiences to the USGA," said Major. "We have been able to do so at several of our championships this year, and look forward to visiting many more local communities in the future."