If you ever attend a clinic organized by Growing Kids Through Golf, it won't take long to spot Mark Eberle, the program's founder. He's usually the one watching the interaction between young golfers and their professional counterparts with a wide, endless smile across his face.

 

It was more than 15 years ago in Van Wert, Ohio, when Eberle first conceived the idea of using golf as a way to minister to kids. Now based in Orlando, Fla., the once would-be professional golfer recalls how his heart was turned toward outreach.

 

"As my golf career developed by playing the mini tours and then teaching, I was gradually drawn away from my (Christian) foundation," Eberle explains. "It was a personal encounter with God that refocused my life 20 years ago. It was such a powerful experience I walked away from golf to seek what God wanted for my life."

 

A two-month trip to the Amazon opened Eberle's eyes to what God had in store for his future. Initially, that vision was encompassed through his organization known as the Christian Golfer's Association (CGA). The first youth clinic consisted of just six pupils. Since then, the ministry has expanded to include a six-level program that involves kids ages 7 to 17.

 

Growing Kids Through Golf helps local churches start their own golf-related outreaches but focuses much of its attention on Tour Heroes Clinics that take place at different PGA, LPGA and Champions Tour stops around the country. These one-day events allow local kids and parents to interact with tour players who give golf demonstrations and share their testimonies.

 

Eberle has been blessed to work with a number of professional golfers including Lee Janzen and David Gossett (PGA), and Tracy Hanson (LPGA) and Jim Thorpe (Champions Tour).

 

"The goal of the program is to impact the lives of young people," Eberle says. "Our focus is to connect kids to their local church where they can be cared for, nurtured and loved. And to give the kids who are already active in their local church leadership skills along with a sense of ownership in their church no matter how young they are."

 

To find a Growing Kids Through Golf clinic in your area, or to start your own local chapter, check out the ministry's Web site, gktg.org.