November 2024 - Five Dollar Golf Attracts Kids – and Parents

Youth on Course lowers expensive barriers to the game of golf
This article appeared in the November 2024 edition of Chicago District Golfer.
To read more Chicago District Golfer stories, head to our article archive.

Northbrook resident Micah Chiong is one of 6,700 CDGA Youth Members. Through this program, he has access to Youth on Course, which provides individuals aged 6-18 the opportunity to play rounds of golf for $5 or less.

When Michael Chiong was growing up, he never had a true opportunity to play golf. “My parents told me about golf,” Chiong said. “They would take me to the driving range here and there, but they didn’t give me equipment. They didn’t give me exposure to the courses.”

So Chiong made a vow.

“I promised myself, ‘If I get a chance to have kids, I’m going to get them as much access to golf as possible,’” Chiong said.

Sure enough, Chiong says he has a picture of his son, Micah, swinging a club at 16 months. When Micah got older, Michael would take him out to play. However, since golf is expensive, it wasn’t always easy for him to find courses with affordable rates.

Then Chiong discovered the Chicago District Golf Association’s Youth on Course program. It enables boys and girls ages 6–18 to join the CDGA as a CDGA Youth Member and receive affordable access to golf courses with rounds at participating facilities for $5 or less.

Micah joined when he was 13, and for the last four years, the resident of Northbrook has been playing area courses such as Anetsberger Golf Course in Northbrook and the Glenview Prairie Club. Thanks to the CDGA Youth Membership and Youth on Course, each round only costs $5 or less.

“It’s meant everything for Micah,” Chiong said.

Micah is one of 6,700 CDGA Youth Members. In 2024, these members played more than 22,000 rounds at almost 60 participating courses throughout the Chicago District. Membership also includes a Handicap Index® and exclusive youth offers from the likes of Zero Friction and Tour Edge.

Youth on Course is a national program started by the Northern California Golf Association in 2006. The CDGA began to administer the program locally in 2017.

CDGA Executive Director Robert Markionni says CDGA Youth Membership is about growing the game in a more affordable way for prospective new players.

“We all know golf can be an expensive game,” Markionni said. “The idea is really just to take the dollar sign out of being an impediment to someone playing.”

Micah, who attends Christian Heritage Academy in Northfield, has seen how that goal plays out in real time. He is part of Youth on Course’s DRIVE Club, a program supported by TaylorMade that allows members like Micah to take friends who are new to the game out to play for free.

“The program helps shape the way kids my age view golf,” Micah said. “When I tell my friends that a Youth on Course membership allows them to play for $5 or less on dozens of courses around Chicago land, it makes golf seem less intimidating and more casual.”

The CDGA and CDGA Foundation pay participating courses the difference between the $5 and their respective junior rates. More than $150,000 worth of CDGA subsidies were provided in 2024.

Ed Stevenson, the Director of Golf for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, has seen the impact of Youth on Course at Green Meadows Golf Club in Westmont. He says the number of Youth on Course rounds played in 2024 grew by more than 40% over last year.

Chiong's passion for CDGA Youth Membership and Youth on Course expands beyond his own membership, as he serves on the Youth on Course Leadership Council and is part of Youth on Course's DRIVE Club.

Stevenson says programs like Youth on Course are essential to sustaining a healthy future for golf.

“Although golf is currently thriving with high demand and full-tee sheets, the success of the golf industry will only be sustained if future generations become engaged in the game,” Stevenson said.

“More than ever before young people are expressing interest in golf. Youth on Course is amazing because it provides young golfers with affordable opportunities to play, and course access is the key to turning interest in golf into a lifelong passion for the game.”

Micah’s passion for golf also is growing in part to being on the Youth on Course Leadership Council, made up of junior members. He says the CDGA’s staff “is open to hearing about our ideas for growing programs and helping kids like me feel heard.”

“This organization values personal relationships and it truly defines Youth on Course's efforts to grow the game of golf,” Micah said. “We play a very social game and the way staff, alumni and ambassadors make conscious efforts to meet members and grow relationships sets an example for how we are to do the same.”

The CDGA and Youth on Course have had such a profound impact on Micah that his father says he actually is thinking about a career in golf.

“I don’t know if that is going to happen for Micah,” Michael said. “But it shows that Youth on Course goes beyond playing.”

Micah’s experience provides tremendous testimony for Youth on Course. But the barometer for the program is a bit more modest. Success simply is about giving young players a chance to play at an affordable price.

“If somebody comes from a background where the parents don't play golf, but the children want to learn, getting them out to a course is an important part of the process,” Markionni said. “Since golf can be expensive for youth, this program is a really good bridge. It is helping to bring in the next generation of golfers.”

A former Chicago Tribune golf writer, Ed Sherman is a frequent contributor to Chicago District Golfer.