Children in Bay Ridge have a new place to learn and develop their golf skills following the completion of six refurbished greens at the City Parks Foundation Junior Golf Center, next to Dyker Beach public golf course.
City Parks Foundation and DICK’S Sporting Goods marked the improvements Sunday, Oct. 4, with 25 Pee Wee golfers taking part in the ribbon-cutting.
The renovated greens are designed for teaching, practice and competition rather than traditional miniature golf. The improvements will allow the Brooklyn center to expand its Pee Wee golf program and provide more young players with opportunities to develop their skills.
The project is part of an eight-month partnership between City Parks Foundation and DICK’S Sporting Goods. While the partnership also supported improvements at the foundation’s junior golf facilities in Queens and Staten Island, the Bay Ridge center received a new putting training course, an indoor green and reinforced fencing.
The improvements add to a free recreational program that provides access to golf equipment, instruction and dedicated practice facilities. Golf can be difficult for young people to access because of the cost of equipment, lessons and course fees. The Junior Golf Center helps remove some of those barriers for New York City residents ages 6 to 17.
The Bay Ridge center includes a six-hole, par-3 course, putting and chipping greens, a driving range, clubhouse and classroom. Along with learning golf, students are taught values such as safety and respect, with lessons intended to build skills that extend beyond the course.
Each year, City Parks Foundation introduces nearly 2,400 children ages 6 to 17 to golf through its junior golf programs. The Bay Ridge center is open from March through October, with weekly seven-week lessons offered in the spring, summer and fall.
