Adam Heieck, CEO of Youth on Course - a podcast by Jay Revell

Adam Heieck is leading one of golf's most impactful organizations. He is the CEO of Youth On Course,  a program aimed at creating pathways to golf access for children across the United States. The organization is transforming the landscape of golf by subsidizing golf rounds for junior players all across America. Based in Northern California, where the movement began, Heieck and his team have grown Youth On Course to impressive levels since its founding in 2006. Today, over 1,400 golf courses participate in the program which has now expanded to over 100,000 members. With numbers like that, Youth On Course is undoubtedly moving the needle. 

Thanks to the subsidy provided by Youth On Course, the cost for a member to play at any participating golf course in only $5. Those subsidies come from a large scale fundraising operation that Heieck and his team oversee. Youth On Course has corporate partners and other means for raising dollars to support their work, but a large amount of their funding comes from the grassroots level. Golfers across America raise money for Youth On Course through day long golf marathons and other inventive means. With so many advocates for the program spread across the country, the number of participants continues to climb. 

The accessible rate is not just a win for the junior players either. It has sparked impressive financial results for participating courses too. As Heieck points out in our conversation, getting the kids to the course usually means mom and dad aren't far behind. Youth On Course has created an ecosystem where the child playing golf at an affordable rate is only a small part of the larger impact. Whole families are getting involved with golf that otherwise may not have been able to or know how to. As the number of participants continues to explode during golf's post-COVID boom, Heieck and his team are looking at the future and making big plans. In our discussion, we touched on the Youth On Course origin story, what makes the model work so well, and how providing access to young golfers is one of the keys to making golf a more diverse and attractive game. We also dove into Heieck's background and touched on what drives him to do this important work in the game he loves. He isn't slowing down. With new initiatives like caddie programs and a growing scholarship fund, Heieck and the Youth On Course team are poised to see their impacts widen across the spectrum of American golf.

I greatly enjoyed chatting with Heieck and hope to connect with him next time I visit Northern California. Fingers crossed that will be soon. In the meantime, he's given me an arsenal of reasons to help bring Youth On Course to my own community. I'm hopeful that my hometown will join the ranks of this fast growing movement that is bringing so many new faces to golf.

To learn more about Youth On Course, please visit their website at https://youthoncourse.org/

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-J
Mid-Am Crisis is a production of Revell Media, LLC

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