Students in Weyburn are going to get a chance to play golf during the quickly approaching school year and beyond with the purchase of four indoor kits.
The Golf in School kits include a package of clubs, balls, and flags for students in grades 1 to 5 and a higher quality set for high school students. St. Michael School teacher Chad Klein said the city’s schools have been working on getting the kits for a couple years. He said golf used to be part of the physical education agenda when Graham DeLaet attended St. Michael.
“I wanted to start the program here at the school again, not because of Graham but because it was something else for kids to do,” Klein said. “There are some kids I know that like golf but there wasn’t something for them at school. It keeps kids active, gets them involved in a school activity. The Graham factor is just a bonus.”
Overall the community purchased two sets of the youth kit and a pair of senior kits. Klein coaches junior golfers in his school while utilizing the Weyburn Golf Club. He said having the kits is a benefit for when the weather isn’t favourable.
“The physical education teachers are eager. I like them too because when it’s ugly for golf practice we can stay inside. Grades 8 and 9 have golf as part of their phys. ed. now and the teachers are going to be able to do more both inside and out,” he said.
The kits also come with a lesson plan manual for teachers if a golf professional isn’t available. The kits were delivered by Golf Saskatchewan to Weyburn Golf Club pro Brett Berkner. He said the addition of the kits to all Weyburn schools should benefit the course in the long run as well.
“We’ve talked about it for awhile, we got a grant this year for them so it’s nice to give them to the schools. Hopefully that will increase our junior numbers and increase the members at our golf course,” Berkner said.
Fittingly, DaLaet is the national ambassador for the Golf in Schools program.