Nancy Quarcelino, a three-time Tennessee PGA Teacher of the Year and a Golf Magazine Top-100 instructor, is the PGA director of instruction at the Nancy Quarcelino School of Golf in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

Nancy Quarcelino on the importance of creating incentives in youth performance programs:
Here at the Nancy Quarcelino School of Golf, we’ve created a coaching program called the Junior Performance Training Program (JPTP). This program runs six months out of the year and allows students to focus on all facets of their game. The end goal is to prepare these high school golfers for tournament play and college golf. In addition to the tireless effort of player development, we have also established an incentive program that keeps all participants engaged in playing and practicing. This weekly initiative allows youth golfers to earn points through tournament participation and practice, which needs to be signed off by parents or guardians. At the end of the JPTP season, the golfer with the most points receives a sponsor-donated gift from Cobra Puma Golf.

Nancy Quarcelino on the business impact of creating incentives in youth performance programs:
The JPTP costs each youth golfer $350 per month. We limit the program to 12-14 students per season, and keep the ratio to half boys and half girls. For the entry fee, they receive 16 group training sessions and 12 private lessons over the course of the six months. This annually generates roughly $30,000 in revenue, not including golf shop sales, food & beverage, and additional private lesson revenue. The greatest reward of it all is improving my students. Last season collectively the JPTP group shed four points on their GHIN handicap average.

If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email nancyq@comcast.net