Drive, Chip & Putt…Everyone Wins

by Jeff Skinner

I spent this past Sunday doing my usual routine when I have a Sunday off.  I give myself a chance at breakfast, second breakfast, the New York Times, all the golf websites and of course The Golf Channel.  But this Sunday morning The Golf Channel was extra special. 

The coverage of the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship was riveting television, well at least for me it was.  Drive Chip & Putt is the latest and I will say greatest, initiative put forth by the golf industry to try and grow the game. 

88 lucky and skilled kids earned a trip down Magnolia Lane to compete in the finals of the nationwide competition.  To see the looks on those young faces and the passion all of them showed was indeed a treat for this old hacker.

Everyone on the grounds of Augusta National was flying high on Sunday from the kids to their parents to the fellows in the green jackets to the professionals who were practicing just down the range from the kids.

The pros at The Golf Channel couldn’t contain themselves either as their smiles were as wide as the competitors.  We watched Bubba Watson go down the line shaking all their hands and Adam Scott signing autographs while wearing his green jacket. 

When it comes to these programs to try and attract more players to the game I am a Doubting Thomas.  But this one may just be the one that does it.  There are few attractions in golf that are grander than Augusta National.  And Sunday morning it was at its grandest.

The most revered club in the world was shown in a new light, a very new light.  And the members of Augusta along with The PGA of America and the USGA may have just got this one right.  As Adam Scott told The Golf Channel, “The future looks bright for golf.”  It did on Sunday, it absolutely did.

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Here are the 2014 winners: Kelly Xu (Girls 7-9), Treed Huang (Boys 7-9), Lucy Li (Girls 10-11), Leo Cheng (Boys 10-11), Natalie Pietromonaco (Girls 12-13), Bryson Bianco (Boys 12-13), Hunter Pate (Girls 14-15) and Patrick Welch (Boys 14-15).