SNAG? No problem for swinging kids

Dubai : As Lee Westwood was blitzing his way towards victory in the Dubai World Championship, not far off in a small play area by the Earth course were a bunch of toddlers having a ball of their own, totally oblivious to what was going on around them.

This was however, not any regular play area, but one designed for a very specific purpose - teaching children how to play golf in a fun yet imaginative way.

That pretty much sums up the philosophy of Starting New At Golf, better known as SNAG. An innovative programme which includes all the basics of golf, SNAG, the brainchild of former US PGA Tour professional Terry Anton, makes the sport as easy to learn as ABC thanks to its modified equipment and rules explained in simple jargon.

"When kids play a sport, they've got to have fun. If they're having fun, they're going to come back, pursue it and become golfers," said Shivas Nath of evolution Golf, the company behind the introduction of SNAG to the UAE.

"With SNAG, the conversion rate is 32 per cent," added Nath who revealed his company is in talks to take SNAG to several leading golf clubs within the UAE. "None of them would officially endorse the programme because there's always endorsement fees and the use of logo. But they loved the idea because ultimately what we're doing is just creating more golfers.

Going to school

"SNAG has been arranging demos at schools, as a post-school activity. After two months, the kids are ready and trained to be taken to a driving range," he said.

In the four days SNAG ran at the Dubai World Championship, it did expose some potential Rory McIlroys of tomorrow like two year-old Caelum Brook who won one of the prizes up for grabs. "He was very excited when he saw the SNAG area," said his mother Melinda. "We told him we would be going to watch the Dubai World Championship and he said, ‘Can I play?' It was kind of hard for us to get him out of there later."

SNAG only has two clubs: the Launcher is used to launch, pitch, and chip the ball while the Roller plays the role of a putter and is used to roll the ball toward the target. All shots other than rolling (putting) are played off of a mat and tee called the Launch Pad. This ensures that the player will have an optimal lie every time.

The target, called a Flagsticky, is not a hole with a cup inside as in regular golf but rather an above-ground weighted cylinder covered with a hook material.

The SNAG Ball is slightly smaller than a tennis ball and is covered with a loop material. Unlike golf, where you finish by putting your ball into the cup, in SNAG, you finish by sticking your ball to the Flagsticky™.

To know more about SNAG, go to www.snaggolf.com

How to play this game

SNAG only has two clubs: the Launcher is used to launch, pitch, and chip the ball while the Roller plays the role of a putter and is used to roll the ball toward the target. All shots other than rolling (putting) are played off of a mat and tee called the Launch Pad. This ensures that the player will have an optimal lie every time.

The target, called a Flagsticky, is not a hole with a cup inside as in regular golf but rather an above-ground weighted cylinder covered with a hook material.

The SNAG Ball is slightly smaller than a tennis ball and is covered with a loop material. Unlike golf, where you finish by putting your ball into the cup, in SNAG, you finish by sticking your ball to the Flagsticky.

To know more about SNAG, go to www.snaggolf.com