Eganville – The next generation of eager golf enthusiasts had the chance to learn from a seasoned PGA pro last week during another successful junior camp at Whitetail Golf Club and will finally have the chance to put their skills to the test.

Whitetail Golf’s junior camp has been quite successful in its 15 years of operation and with tournaments coming up in the summer, their players’ hard work and dedication won’t be wasted.

Derek MacDonald, owner of Whitetail Golf, said junior development is one of their key focuses.

“It’s a good program for them. It develops their golf skills through driving, chipping, putting, etiquette, the rules and just learning the basics of the swing,” he said.

“We’re working on getting a team together. We’re developing some really good golfers in the area here at Whitetail.”

The camp typically sees 25 to 30 kids from across the Valley but is expected to grow with last year’s addition of a junior league and junior clinics every Tuesday.

“They’re from all over the place. A lot of people even book their cottage trips around this,” he said. “We have one girl here; her parents drive her from Stittsville every day.”

Mr. MacDonald said the club is preparing to host a junior invitational as well as take their team to another competition in Pembroke. Their top eight players will go on to represent the club at the junior intersectionals in Perth.

The last two days of this year’s training camp were delayed due to inclement weather, but they returned for the sunshine the following days. While the first and second days helped golfers get a feel for the course, the last focused on competing for prizes at the driving range.

The camp is intended for ages 9 to 12, and while it promises to give beginners a crash course in the golf experience, it’s more catered to intermediate players who have been golfing before. The camp runs from 9 a.m. to noon and costs $200 for the three days of training.

The program has become something of an academy rather than a training camp since it’s more than just your typical lessons and drills. The final day of camp had the young golfers not only fighting over who had the longest and most accurate drive for prizes but also the approval of an experienced professional player.

Mr. MacDonald also commended his volunteer instructors who helped run the training camp smoothly. He thanked Adam Bernard, Logan Heideman, Cullen Brand, Andrew Searson and Ryland Romain for their hard work and assistance.