Mike Andrusin, the 2017 PGA New Jersey Section Youth Player Development Award Recipient, is a PGA Golf Instructor with the Morris County (NJ) Park Commission and Core Golf Performance, in Oakland, New Jersey.

Mike Andrusin on the importance of offering a multi-faceted youth instruction program:
The Morris County Park Commission includes four public golf facilities in Morris County, New Jersey, under the management of Billy Casper Golf. As a PGA golf instructor serving all four locations, I am not only responsible for ensuring our local golfers have a qualified teacher to help improve their skills, but to grow the game at the youth level as well. I have been the proud coach of the Hackettstown High School golf team for eight years, and attribute the success of many of my players to the programs we have run at our Morris County public courses. Further evidence of our excitement for youth golf is our thriving PGA Jr. League program. We have a 13-year-old team with 16 participants and a 16-year-old team with 11 players. PGA Jr. League gives our youth golfers the opportunity to play competitively, develop friendships, and display the skills they have learned in our various clinics and youth camp programs. Within these PGA Jr. League teams are students who represent five different local high schools, a statistic of which we are very proud. We hold several pre-season practices, followed by five to seven PGA Jr. League matches, plus playoffs. The program has grown through word of mouth and a spring email blast regarding registration, etc. Signage is placed around the four facilities and an online presence has proven advantageous, as we use social media to disseminate information.

Mike Andrusin on the business impact of offering a multi-faceted youth instruction program:
Piquing the interest of local youth who may or may not have experience playing the game is an important aspect of growing the game in a general sense, and more specifically, in feeding our local high school teams. PGA Jr. League is a wonderful way to supplement the income of any PGA Professional and satisfies our most basic duty as mentors within the game of golf. As a result of my involvement with the Hackettstown High School team, as well as the promotion and growth of our PGA Jr. League, participation in our youth golf clinics and camps has increased in recent years. Also, private instruction with our Morris County youth golfers has grown, as has the demand for lessons by their parents. Play throughout our facilities is up, which in turn benefits golf range revenues, food & beverage income, and golf shop sales. With our thirteen year-old team celebrating its fourth season, our local high school teams are now being represented by young people who began their competitive golf experience in our PGA Jr. League program. The growth we have seen is the satisfying result of hard work and dedication to our local youth golfers and our efforts to grow the game.

To email the author of this best practice, please email mandrusin@berkshirevalleygc.com