The US first opened a national strategy to nurture golf talents
"In the United States, golf has long been a key sport without a national development program. We simply watch or tell players and their families and coaches to strive for themselves without giving a consistent direction. ", said USGA CEO Mike Whan when the organization first launched its strategy for developing American golf talent. According to the head of USGA, this situation will end when the youth talent development program is launched to ensure that future generations will be stronger, more diverse and more potential.
The USGA acknowledges that it builds its strategy from learning models in Canada, Sweden, Finland, and Australia.
Accordingly, this agency offers an ecosystem of six main areas with the cooperation of highly reputable specialized organizations, including identifying the subjects to be nurtured, financial support, organizing the combat environment, Establish a national team of all ages, open professional learning resources and career orientation with the advice of successful players.
For talent zoning, the USGA relies on its own database, combining information from the American Youth Golf Association, local golf associations and the system of the American Professional Golf Association. After that, they will conduct a professional test, currently about 25 indicators, from which to accept subjects, the youngest is 12 years old.
At the same time, golf management and development units at all levels will rearrange the tournament in the direction of gradually raising the level, starting from the state to regional level and then entering the tournament system hosted by the USGA, which is the highest position.
In the first year of implementation, the program spends 3 million USD with the goal of supporting about 50 talents to pay for the competition, travel, training, equipment purchases and field exercises. The USGA is aiming to receive 1,000 children by 2027 and projects a budget of $30-40 million over about five years of implementation.
From 2024-2026, they will in turn debut three American teams, in the teen, high-achieving amateur and professional youth levels, from which they regularly play international tournaments or bilateral friendlies. At this level, American players will receive year-round support in a variety of ways, including important areas such as technical, professional analysis, psychology, nutrition and fitness.
In the immediate future, the USGA expects each national team to be of both sexes, equal in number, including 60 junior members, 30 amateur players and 20 young professional players. In addition, they also organize state teams to inherit the national level.
