Bringing Golf To Local P.E. Classes

Due to increased coverage and younger athletes succeeding at a high level golf is slowly becoming a sport that our local youth are taking more interest in and Missoula golf pro Joey Esh is giving local grade school students the opportunity to try it out.

As with all sports the younger you start a sport the higher likely hood that you will continue as you get older, with golf if a child is introduced to the game between the ages of 8-10 they are twice as likely to play when they are an adult. Esh talks about why he has decided to bring golf to Missoula elementary schools, “The key is that it we are giving kids an opportunity to learn the game who may not have a ride to the course, don’t have a set of clubs, or a family member who plays golf the opportunity to play that they might not normally have.”

After Joey returned to Montana with his family he started the local chapter of Operation 36 which is a national organization that is aimed at helping and teaching people of all ages with the game of golf. In 2018 Esh joined forces with a group of Missoula community members in forming a nonprofit organization with the goal of bringing golf to local grade school P.E. classes. Since the start of the project Joey and his partners have been able to introduce golf to 675 kids ranging from second to fifth grade at Franklin, Lowell, Hawthorne, and Russell schools.

Joey and his partners with the nonprofit are able to work with the local grade schools in their P.E. classes in 2018 due to the groups ability to gain grants from organizations like Montana Golf Association. The grants the organization has received have run out which means Joey will not be able to go into the next school when he is done with Russell Elementary. In order for Joey and the rest of the organization to bring a sustainable “golf in schools” program the organization will need to raise $10,000 per year in funding.

While Esh finishes out his time at Russell Elementary school the organization will work on bringing in funding so that Joey can move on to Chief Charlo.