Dozens of children and teens from across the city came out to the Bronx on Monday to perfect their putt with the pros at a junior golf clinic hosted by the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) and Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point.
Kids from first grade through high school practiced core putting fundamentals at Bally’s Ferry Point, learned about opportunities available through the sport, and competed for prizes and, of course, bragging rights.
Brian Crowell, general manager of the public course, said that Bally’s Ferry Point hosts community events like the junior golf clinic to encourage a new generation of New Yorkers to get involved in golf.
“ There are more pathways into golf than ever before, but it’s still the obligation of those in the sport to keep opening as many doors as we can,” Crowell said. “So whenever we can provide an opportunity for juniors in the community, I want them to get a taste of what this sport is all about and what it can do for them going forward.”
Their shared values is one reason Crowell said Bally’s Ferry Point has such a strong partnership with the APGA. The organization is more than just a professional golf tour, its a nonprofit dedicated to making the sport more diverse and accessible by empowering golfers of all ages and backgrounds with mentorship, resources and opportunities to succeed on and off the green.
Monday’s clinic was nearly disrupted when a brush fire broke out in Ferry Point Park near the Whitestone Bridge. Flames and big plumes of smoke could be seen from the green and the patio of the clubhouse. But Crowell called 911, and the FDNY quickly responded, and within an hour, the smoke had cleared.
The young golfers split into an older and a younger group. As each group hit the putting green, their coaches for the day went over some fundamentals before the junior players started swinging.
Bally’s Ferry Point PGA Professional Mal Galletta, who has over 31 years of coaching experience, and Monique Thoresz, director of instruction at Quaker Ridge Golf Club, explained the three basic skills golfers need for a strong putt— speed, aim, and alignment.
The pair cautioned young golfers not to overlook their putting game in favor of bigger, flashier shots. According to Thoresz, putts make up about 40% of a player’s score on average.
Still, Galletta told the aspiring golfers not to overthink their short game and get too tense. He said that it’s important to stay relaxed and “feel” the putt, demonstrating by casually shooting a practice ball toward Thoresz, who stood with her feet in a “V” as a target.
“ So many people are so tight holding their putter,” he said.
The golf ball shot quickly and confidently across the green towards its target. But just as it appeared the practice ball would narrowly miss the other coach’s feet, Thoresz hopped over to her right about an inch-and-a-half making way for her colleague’s putt to find its way into the makeshift goal.
Then the young athletes split up among the coaches, with some learning from Galletta or Thoresz and others from the APGA’s Director of Player Development Montrele Wells, who toured as a professional golfer from 2012 to 2023.
Wells’s group of athletes were all boys, and the seasoned golf pro began by giving his group a lesson in course etiquette, safety and respect before anyone began putting. Wells showed the junior players how to stand and hold their clubs safely and respectfully while someone else was swinging. At one point he noticed a group of boys getting a little distracted by all the excitement.
“Ya’ll are doing a lot of giggling and talking down there, you better be really good at putting,” Wells said, gently chiding some of the boys.
As the junior golfers started putting, Wells, Galletta and Thoresz gave group and individual instruction, checking grips and stances, offering kids tips on how to get a more accurate speed, or how to better read the slope of the green and aim a putt so it would arc towards the hole.
Pretty soon, the green was dotted with golf balls bearing the word “practice” printed across their circumference.
As each round of hands-on instruction came to an end, the young golfers competed to see who could send a golf ball closest to the hole. Junior golfer Dylan Garcia in Wells’ group, lined up his shot about 10 feet from the hole and with a firm tap, sent his practice ball rolling into the hole on the green— the only golfer to sink a shot in his group.
Garcia told the Bronx Times that he started golfing about two years ago because he was inspired by his father. He said that it felt great to be the only golfer on his group to sink his shot and that when he was lining up his shot, he thought about the curvature of the ground.
“Sometimes there are different elevations and it makes the ball move,” Garcia said. “So I just lined it up good with all the hills and it went in.”
Contest winners got first the first picks of the massive pile of swag. Garcia picked a $20 gift card to Domino’s, but all the junior golfers got a swag bag.
Parents said what set the golf clinic apart from other youth coaching events available in the city was a focus on how golf can also help young athletes with personal and professional development. PGA of America Senior Career Consultant Jonathan Gold gave each age group a presentation about the business of golf and opportunities within the sport and within the industry.
Lori Elwick, who brought her 15-year-old son Corban from Queens, said that it’s been difficult to find NYC schools with golf programs. She told the Bronx Times that it was their first time learning at Bally’s Ferry Point.
“ Here we are learning about the industry itself and opportunities beyond what they’re doing now,” Elwick said.
She told the Bronx Times that she wishes the sport were more accessible.
“ I just really want my son to find something he likes, and the fact that he likes this— I just wish there were more opportunities,” Elwick said.
It’s families— and golfers like Elwick and her son that Bally’s Ferry Point and APGA aim to attract and encourage.
“ We’re trying to expand the audience just like the APGA is,” Crowell said. “We’re not waiting for them to come to golf, we’re bringing golf to them.”
