Greater Trenton Junior Golf, Inc.

CERTIFICATION PROCESS

Greater Trenton Junior Golf, Inc. (GTJG) wants everyone who completes the GTJG Program to have acquired basic golf skills and to be able to demonstrate certain fundamental life skills concepts- such as interpersonal communication and the importance of rules and etiquette. So at each level of the program - Putter, Chipper, Pitcher, Driver and Tour Player - participants will go through a Certification Process that tests and evaluates participants' understanding of and ability to apply what was taught.

Participants must complete a given number of golf and life-skills lessons, and play a certain number of rounds on a USGA recognized course. They must also demonstrate and discuss certain life skills as well as basic golf skills for an instructor, who evaluates their performance on a scale of 1-5.

The primary purpose of the Certification Process is to ensure that participants have been exposed to core lesson material and have a basic grasp of the concepts. The process is designed to identify those who don't and those who do need additional help-rather than simply passing or failing participants.

If someone is having difficulty with some aspect of the testing process, instructors should help review the material and let him or her try again. Any participants receiving a total score of 70 percent will pass. Each of the testing and evaluation forms in this package states the specific score required to pass the golf and life skills sections at each of the five levels.

Where possible, the testing and evaluation for life and golf skills should be done at the same time, so the participants have to go through only one testing situation per level.

FOUR PARTS TO THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS

The GTJG Certification Process has four major elements: completion of golf and life skills lessons, the playing requirement, the written test, and the instructor evaluation. A few details about these elements are presented below.

Lessons. For each level of the program, participants must complete both life skills and golf skills lessons. For life skills, the requirement is to complete the core lesson material identified in the Instructor Guide. Completion of optional topics and activities are plusses, but are not mandatory. If any participant misses a core lesson, the material must be made up, either through one-on-one instruction or a makeup class, before they undergo certification testing and evaluation.
Playing Requirement. At each level, participants must play a certain number of posted rounds on a USGA recognized course- one round at the Putter/Chipper level and five rounds at the Pitcher/Driver level, participants must play a nine-hole putting course to demonstrate basic putting skills. The dates and scores for these rounds are recorded on the Instructor Evaluation Form. Instructors should try to observe some of these rounds to ensure that the player negotiates the course expeditiously and in accordance with basic Rules, etiquette, and safety guidelines. At the Pitching/Driver level, participants will also complete a chipping and pitching test.
Written Test. For life skills and golf skills, each participant will be given a short written test. The tests contain true-false and matching questions. Each correct answer is worth one point. Where possible, instructors should administer the test for golf skills and life skills at the same time. For participants with reading problems, the instructor should read the test to them, review the questions, and re-administer the test to those who perform poorly on their initial attempt.
Instructor Evaluation. The instructor evaluation is a one-on-one interview in which the instructor watches the participant demonstrate life and golf skill or talks with the participant about life skills concepts. For each concept or skill listed on the evaluation form, the instructor rates the performance as 1 (poor), 3 (good), or 5 (excellent).