Hey, it's Trapper.
June is close. I can feel it. The course at the Hyatt is coming along; spots are filling up, and I've had more conversations with parents in the last two weeks than I did all of last fall.
That energy always gets me going. So let's get into it.
Time and Place
A short story from the course.
He told me on the first day he was bad at everything.
Not in a dramatic way. Just matter-of-fact. The way a kid says it when he's heard it enough times that he believes it. He was seven. His older brother played soccer. His dad played golf. And this kid, according to himself, was bad at everything.
I didn't argue with him. That never works either.
I handed him a club and pointed at a target about fifteen feet away. I told him the only goal was to make the ball move toward the circle. That's it. Make it move toward the circle.
He swung. The ball went sideways.
He looked at me like: see?
I said, "That moved. Do it again."
He did. Same result. Sideways. But a little less sideways.
We did this for about ten minutes. No coaching. No mechanics. No "bend your knees" or "keep your eye on the ball." Just make the ball move toward the circle. And at some point during those ten minutes, the ball started going toward the circle.
He didn't yell or jump. He just looked at it for a second, then looked at me.
I said, "You're not bad at everything."
He didn't say anything. But I could see it land.
That's the thing about golf for kids this age. It doesn't care what sport your brother plays. It doesn't care what grade you got on your last test. It's just you and the ball and wherever the ball goes next. And when the ball finally goes where you wanted it to go, that's yours. Nobody gave it to you. Nobody helped you drag it there. You did that.
Those are the moments I've been collecting for 20 years. And I still don't take them for granted.
What this summer looks like
I get some version of this question every year: "My child has never held a golf club. Is that okay?"
Yes. That's the whole point.
Look at this photo. These are Tiny Tees kids at the Hyatt. Different ages, different sizes, different backgrounds. Some of them had played before. Some of them hadn't. By the end of the week, none of that mattered. What mattered was that they showed up, they listened, and they figured some things out together.
That's what summer camp at Tiny Tees actually looks like.
We run Monday through Friday, 8am to noon, June through late August at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach. Ages 3 and up. Equipment is provided. Structure is built into every session; not in a rigid way, but in a the kids always know what's coming next kind of way. That predictability matters more than most parents realize. It's what lets a kid who's nervous on day one relax by day two.
Spots in June and July tend to go first. If you've been thinking about it, now's the time.
Something worth thinking about
One thing I've noticed over the years: the parents who worry most about whether their kid is "getting it fast enough" are usually the ones whose kids take the longest to love the game.
That's not a criticism. It's just what happens when the outcome matters more to the adult than the experience does to the kid.
Golf is a slow game. That's not a flaw. That's the point. The waiting, the patience, the reset after a bad shot, those are the reps that matter. And kids absorb them faster when nobody's watching the clock.
Let them be slow. Let them be messy. Let them be bad at it for a while.
They'll find it.
How Kids Learn Golf
Most parents come to me expecting swing tips. I get it. That's what you picture when you sign up for a golf program.
But here's something I've learned in 20 years of teaching kids: the swing is the last thing that matters.
Kids don't learn golf the way adults teach it. They don't process instruction well. They don't store corrections. When you tell a seven-year-old to keep their head down, they hear it once, think about it for maybe three seconds, and then forget it completely the next time they swing. That's not a discipline problem. That's just how a kid's brain works.
What kids actually respond to is playing.
Not drilling. Not correcting. Playing.
Try this this week:
Pick any target on the grass, 10 feet away. Give your child five balls. Tell them it's a game called "Closest Wins." No coaching. No corrections. Just watch which shot was best, celebrate that one, and go again.
If they laugh, stay interested, and ask for one more round, you're doing it right.
That engagement is where the learning starts. Mechanics come after that, not before.
This is how we approach every session at Tiny Tees. Structure first, fun second, technical instruction a distant third. Come see it for yourself.
See you on the course.
— Trapper Perkins, Founder, Tiny Tees Golf Hyatt Regency Newport Beach
P.S. If a family in your neighborhood has a kid who needs a place to land this summer, pass this along. We'll take good care of them.