Thirty grandkids, ages 3-6, listened to brief instructions and demos, and then tackled the nine practice holes on the large Himalaya putting green at Riley Grove with their grandparents Thursday morning — along the lush landscape of Arnold Palmer Legends Country Club.
Recreation Department coordinator, Michelle O’Donnell, and volunteers from The Villages golf division, including Bud Morrison and Wayne King, watched over the kiddies’ putting sessions. Each child was given a small putter and one golf ball — and was shown the gentle gliding putting motion to use — not a baseball bat swing, not a tennis-like swing, and not to hit the ball too hard — just gently along the ground.
Volunteers kept the children’s tallies on special score cards, and screams of glee rose up whenever a boy or girl putted their ball into the hole. Groans could also be heard when childrens’ golf balls skimmed the cup or came within inches. Most of the children took to the game, but shrugged when asked if they wanted to be golfers when they grew up. Most answered: “I don’t know,” or “Maybe.”
Pinellas Villager Bob Mast brought his four grandchildren, who had traveled all the way from Kona, on the big island of Hawaii. The energetic youngsters clowned around before settling into the task at hand. Nicholas and his sister, Alana, are 6 going on 7; and Carolina and her brother, Daniel, are 5 going on 6.
Nicholas wanted to stay in Florida, because the flights back to Hawaii are very long.
“It’s about one day and a couple of hours in the airplane to go home, he said. “That’s very long, but if we decided to swim all the way, it might take a whole month.” Nicholas trashed the thought of swimming when grandpa reminded him there might be sharks or whales in the water. Then his attention shifted to his new Lego block set.
Mike and Annette Giammatteo, who moved here from Connecticut, brought granddaughters, Alex and Gia Gwara, 6 and 4; and Tamarind Grove Villager, Ted DiCorpo helped Olivia, 5, to putt.
The adults enjoyed seeing the kids happy antics with their new activity — rogue grips and dance-like moves which, now and then, resulted in a golf ball dropping into a cup. Most of the kids tackled the nine-hole green as if it were a puzzle — solving one piece at a time.
Volunteer Pat Manno, from Largo Village, enjoyed helping Dennis Fec with Ayden Benson, 5; Nancy Miller with grandson, Benjamin, 4, plus Bob Tiling, with Brandon, 6. The boys showed some serious efforts aiming for the holes.
Volunteers from the Recreation Department, manned a cooler station, which supplied cold water to help the kids and grandparents beat the heat. The stop was under a shady live oak tree on the edge of a large nature preserve. There were also finger puppets, animal crackers and other small crunchy snacks , and an ice pop for when the children finished their golf.
The strong sun was rapidly warming the early morning toward the 90 degree mark.
Hillsborough Villager Cheryl Cavan, had granddaughter Caroline Ratliff, 4, from Atlanta in tow. Grandpa Dan Pierce, from Glenbrook, was giving tips to Ashley Williquer, 4, who was visiting from Louisiana. After the very warm, fun Buckaroo Golf Extravaganza experience, grandparents starte d to think about what to do next — the pool, a movie — or any indoor activity. The only stipulation was that it had to be cool.