Native American Clinic
to highlight CPC week

By Roger Graves, PGA Magazine

Recognizing a unique opportunity to grow the game among the 19 Pueblo American Indian tribes along the Rio Grande River, The PGA of America and the Sun Country PGA Section will host a special clinic for Native Americans in conjunction with The 2003 PGA Club Professional Championship on Wednesday, June 18, at 3 p.m. at Twin Warriors Golf Club in New Mexico.

John Speary, executive director of the Sun Country PGA Section, noted that New Mexico features seven golf facilities on tribal reservations with an eighth course under construction. He emphasized that as tribes build more golf courses on their lands, there is a need to acquaint Native Americans with the nuances, rules and etiquette of the game.

"Golf is becoming a popular business and recreational pursuit on the reservations, so it only makes sense to get as many Native Americans involved in the game as we possibly can," says Speary. "There is a real need to introduce young Native Americans to the game.

"Notah Begay has been very active in encouraging Native Americans to give golf a try, and he has become a good example. The CPC atmosphere is a great opportunity to introduce young Native Americans to the game and give them a cut-down club or two to get them started. Like any other junior program, if you can provide a positive golf experience to juniors when they are young, they will become your players of tomorrow."

Speary hopes to attract 100 to 120 young Native Americans from the 19 Pueblo tribes along the Rio Grande, primarily from the six tribes that are within a 60-minute drive time from Twin Warriors Golf Club. The Sun Country PGA Section, with offices located on the Pueblo Santa Ana tribe reservation near the Santa Ana Golf Club and Twin Warriors, already has numerous Native Americans involved in the Section's PGA Junior Tour.

Several former CPC Champions and national PGA officers will join PGA Professionals from throughout the Sun Country Section in covering all facets of the game during the Native American clinic. Begay, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour and a teammate of Tiger Woods at Stanford University, had hoped to headline the clinic. But the most successful Native American on the PGA Tour has committed to compete in the Buick Classic the week of The PGA Club Professional Championship.