Hoping to draw in younger people for the life-long game of golf, the Diamond Trail Golf Club (DTGC) in Lynnville is offering student passes for the first time. The $150 passes will give students ages 14-23 unlimited play throughout the summer months.
On behalf of the DTGC Board, Sully resident Brad Zegers said they feel offering a student pass is a good idea, especially with the higher number of Lynnville-Sully students out for spring golf this year.
“We don’t want them to put their clubs away at the end of May or whenever the golf season is over,” Zegers said.
In the past, if a student golfer living within a 10-mile range of the DTGC didn’t have a parent as a member at the club, they were only able to golf at the course in the spring until Memorial Day and then not again until after Labor Day. The new student pass, however, is available to youth regardless of whether their parents are DTGC members or not.
Zegers said the upper age limit of 23 was set for the student pass because that’s approximately how old people are during their senior year of college.
“We want them to be a full-time student either in high school or college to be able to take advantage of the pass,” he explained.
With only a handful of young adults actually having a membership at the DTGC, the club hopes offering the pass will lead to those golfers becoming members someday.
Nick Beyer, 25, of Sully, is a current DTGC Board member and an example of someone who has had ties to the golf course since he was a kid.
He recalled when the course opened in 1998, a lottery was held to see who would be the first to tee off on the new course.
“My name got drawn,” Beyer said. “I’ve been connected to (the DTGC) ever since I guess.”
Unlike most other sports, golf can be picked up at a young age and played throughout life, Beyer said, adding he really enjoys the game and getting friends together to join him on the course.
One of the biggest hurdles he sees in getting kids onto the golf course is the cost to play the game. That’s where the $150 student pass comes into play.
“What we’re really looking for is to just make it more affordable for a kid be able to start and get interested in golfing,” he explained.
Once the interest has been piqued, the goal is when those kids grow up and are out of school, they’ll still enjoy the game and find courses nearby where they can golf.
The Diamond Trail Golf Club in Lynnville is offering many special incentives, including student passes, a “Try Me Day,” and new tournaments, to get golfers enjoying the beautiful course.
The student pass will be tried on a trial basis for the 2016 summer to see how well it’s received, after which the board will evaluate and decide whether to continue the offer in future years.
It should be noted that for league play and club tournaments, golfers must be 18 or older, so not everyone with a student pass will be able to participate in those. Also, the cart rental fee is not included in the $150.
New Events
In addition to the student pass starting up this year, the DTGC is also planning a few new tournaments for the summer schedule. All events at the DTGC, other than club tournaments or league play, are open to the public.
The earliest new tournament is the Two-Person Scramble Bucket Cup on May 15, which uses a larger eight-inch cup. It’s the earliest tourney the club has hosted, made possible due to good weather in March and April.
Another new tournament is set for June 4. The Two-Person Scramble will feature a large purse for the top placements. Sponsors are currently being lined up to make the payout even bigger.
The following weekend will be the first Diamond Trail Golf Club Open – an individual scoring event with flighting at the end. The DTGC Open is set for June 12. The final new tournament will be a Glow Ball Night Tournament held as part of the Lynnville Chamber’s Save the Bell event on Aug. 12. The chamber is currently planning dinner, a band, and activities for that evening with golf to follow. The best-ball tourney will start after dark with glow-in-the-dark balls and glow sticks placed throughout the course, including on the tee boxes and flagsticks. “It’s supposed to be a fun night for people, whether you’re a good golfer or not,” said Beyer, who is helping line up the event.
These four new events have been added to the DTGC schedule that already features popular tournaments held in the past, such as the Lions Club Ryder Cup on July 30 and the Par 3 Par-Tee on June 26. A full, updated schedule of events is available at diamondtrailgolf.com.
Another new event at the DTGC this year is "Try Me Day" on Saturday, May 14. Fifth and sixth graders are invited to the course for stations of chipping, putting, and driving range time. Volunteers will be available to help the kids, and flyers with more details will be sent home soon with Lynnville-Sully fourth and fifth graders.
Zegers reminds the community the DTGC is also available to anyone wanting to plan on organizational outing or charity event. The golf course is “so close and so available,” he added, saying the DTGC is more than willing to be the venue for those types of events.
Spring Play
As many local golfers know, the DTGC is already open for the spring season. Between now and Memorial Day, the course is open to both members and non-members. The 18-hole golf special (golf and cart) is $20 per person during the week and $25 per person on the weekends.
Zegers is one of the golfers who has already hit the course quite a bit this spring. He encourages others to come out and try it as well. “The course is, I think, way ahead of what it normally is this time of year due to our March weather,” he said. “It’s really looking nice out there already.”
The clubhouse will begin having some regular hours on May 1 and will have full open hours closer to Memorial Day. For more information on open hours, obtaining a student pass, or signing up for a tournament, contact 641-527-2600 or dtgc@netins.net.
