Kids at the Boys & Girls Club of Penobscot Nation were already starting to fall in love with the game of golf.
And now they have nine new mini golf holes to help keep building that interest.
They’re not just any nine holes, either. U.S. Cellular built the world’s longest mini golf hole earlier this summer, and after touring it around the country in several locations including Bangor, has divided that record-breaking 507-foot span into smaller 9-hole courses and is donating those to local Boys & Girls Clubs.
The Penobscot Nation club is one of them, and it couldn’t come at a better time for the local organization.
“We actually just started to do intro golf with our kids, and then we got the call,” John Neptune, the unit director at the club, said Tuesday.
U.S. Cellular built the hole as part of its “Unplug and Play” efforts to promote people connecting in real life and maintaining a healthier relationship with technology.
“Our big push is the same thing as what U.S. Cellular is doing, is we’re trying to get more kids off electronics and getting them into more lifetime sports,” Neptune said. “And golf is a lifetime sport.”
Neptune said the Boys & Girls Club of Penobscot Nation has been introducing local kids to golf by using a roughly 150 yard mowed field as a teaching area. And with plenty of gymnasium space to set up the new portable mini golf course, the group now has another avenue to engage kids with the game of golf.
“Even if we start them off with mini golf, it’s a nice introduction to what they can expand later on,” he said.
Neptune said he didn’t hesitate when he got an email asking if the Boys & Girls Club of Penobscot Nation was interested in the chance to add the mini golf holes.
“After taking this experience on the road this summer, we are so excited to be able to provide Boys & Girls Clubs of Penobscot Nation with a unique activity they can play any time of the year right at their Club,” said Brian Cotlar, the local marketing and engagement manager for U.S. Cellular in New England.
The timing was perfect given the interest that the Boys & Girls Club was already seeing in golf activities.
“You’ve got a lot of these kids who have never played before, and it’s the first time they’re doing it,” Neptune said. “And I cannot pull them away. They’re just down there and want to play all the time.”
Neptune would like to keep growing the organization’s golf programming. While the club hasn’t yet been in touch with local courses about potentially getting kids out to play, he called that a “great idea” when asked about it.
“And these are youth that haven’t been exposed to any golf or anything like that,” Neptune said. “It’s their first time doing it, and they’re just falling in love with it.”
