Program Aims to Link Kids, Golf and Learning

Many of the kids had never held a golf club in their lives, but Friday they happily putted balls back and forth at El Cariso Golf Course.

Nine fifth-graders from Haddon Avenue Elementary school in Pacoima came to learn to play golf as part of an innovative partnership with their school, the golf course and the office of Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar).

About 35 kids from the school will take free weekly lessons in small groups for about a month. Cardenas, an avid golfer, said the sport will teach the kids the value of self-discipline and commitment, qualities they will need when they grow up. “It’s a tool to open doors to things they’ve never known,” he said.

Ernesto Pentoja, a 19-year-old cart boy at the golf course, was credited with the idea to teach children golf. In April he spotted Cardenas playing at the course and told him of his vision.

Pentoja was surprised that Cardenas was receptive, but the youth knew his biggest hurdle would be the general perception of golf. “The fact is, you go out there and you say ‘golf’ and people think it’s so boring,” said Pentoja, of San Fernando. “It’s not competitive. You have to beat yourself to improve your score and get better.”

Haddon Principal Loraine Mason said one student asked her, “Isn’t golf for just rich people?”

Cardenas confided that when he drove by golf courses and saw people playing there as a youth, he thought to himself, “There go those rich people.”

Yet on the course, the children enthusiastically learned how to putt. “It’s fun. I thought it was going to be boring,” said Javier Andrade, 10, of Pacoima.

Professional golf instructor Rudy Garcia said the sport will teach kids timing and discipline: “This will humble you to the ground.”

Garcia, 64, said the program will also help to spot talented players while they’re young.

“You find naturals, but you never know until a program like [this] comes,” he said. “Once they grasp it, there’s no end to it.”