Because once that happens, something wonderful can begin.
Golf can become a sport they play with friends.
A game they share with parents and grandparents.
A source of confidence, competition, challenge and belonging.
And, for some, the beginning of an extraordinary sporting journey.
Bitesize Golf is the latest chapter in a junior golf story that began more than 30 years ago.
A story built around one belief:
The story behind a junior golf system built through more than 40 years of experience
Years ago, Dave noticed something about his own children.
They wanted to keep going back to swimming lessons.
Why?
Because every time they earned one badge, another one was waiting.
There was always another achievement ahead.
Dave started asking a simple question:
Why didn’t junior golf work like that?
Golf was very good at introducing children to the game, but far less consistent at showing them where to go afterwards.
So he began building a pathway where children could learn, practise, complete challenges, gain recognition and move naturally towards the next stage.
That simple progression principle became the foundation of Young Masters Golf.
The story was reported nationally as early as 2004, when The Independent - National Newspaper, described YMG as an independent programme bringing skills, rules, etiquette, badges, merit points, quizzes and competition into one progressive junior system.
What began as a solution for one junior coaching programme started spreading from professional to professional, club to club and eventually country to country.
The golf press began documenting the growth as it happened.
In March 2004, Young Masters Golf was reported to have grown to more than 330 junior golf academies in less than two years.
Read the original coverage →The Independent told the story behind the progression principle, reporting YMG approaching its 350th club and more than 11,000 children going through the programme in the previous twelve months.
Read the Independent feature →Young golfers competed across twelve regions, with 120 reaching Celtic Manor and 24 progressing towards the finals at La Manga. The series was backed by The Times / Sunday Times and EA Sports.
See the event coverage →Lisa Maguire won the Young Masters Golf Junior Series final at La Manga, with twin sister Leona finishing second, years before Leona's rise to the highest levels of international golf.
Read the original story →By 2008, Young Masters Golf was being reported as operating through approximately 400 centres across the United Kingdom.
Read the coverage →Later industry coverage identified Dave as the founder and author of Young Masters Golf as he moved into the next stage of his work in junior golf development.
Read the article →The progression principle had grown from one coach's idea into a junior golf programme being used, discussed and reported around the golfing world.
Later records describe YMG operating through 800+ clubs and professionals and introducing more than 100,000 young golfers to the game.
Golf facilities and professionals
Young golfers introduced
A programme that travelled internationally
Progressive levels distributed
The Independent reported one participating club going from just seven or eight juniors with handicaps to around 40–50 playing in club competitions, with the junior team subsequently winning trophies.
After completing the final stages of Young Masters Golf, Dave’s involvement with the programme he had helped create came to an abrupt end.
A difficult departure was followed by a legal dispute lasting several years.
Eventually, continuing the battle was no longer financially realistic and Dave walked away from the project that had occupied such a large part of his professional life.
For a while, that could have been the end of the story.
It wasn’t.
The belief, the vision and the mission behind YMG had never disappeared.
Children still needed a pathway.
Parents still needed help.
Coaches still needed structure.
Golf still needed to do a better job of turning curious beginners into lifelong players.
So the rebuilding began.
The first time around, there had been a team.
Designers. Administration. Marketing. Operations. Technology. Production.
Starting again meant learning how to do much of it independently.
So Dave spent years rebuilding, learning new skills and asking a bigger question: If you could start again with everything learned from Young Masters Golf, what would you build now?
The answer was not another version of YMG. It became something much larger.
A ten-level junior development system bringing together:
The original progression principle remained. Almost everything around it grew.
A young golfer does not become a golfer simply by learning technique.
They need to understand the game.
How to play it.
How to behave on a course.
How to make decisions.
How to practise.
How to compete.
How to respect other players.
How to cope when things go wrong.
And why this extraordinary game has traditions that have survived for generations.
A ten-level junior development system bringing together:
The Bitesize app now contains more than 1,100 pages of content spanning its 10-level system.
Bitesize golf changed 3 - 5% retention to near maximum pupils retained
Not every child who tries golf will become a tournament golfer.
They do not need to.
The first job is simply to keep the journey enjoyable and rewarding long enough for the child to discover what golf can become.
Once that connection happens, golf has an extraordinary ability to stay with people.
A seven-year-old beginner can become a teenage competitor.
A teenage competitor can become an adult club member.
An adult golfer can one day play with their children.
And later with their grandchildren.
Give children the confidence and knowledge to remain in the game.
Golf creates relationships that can last for decades.
Few sports allow three generations to genuinely participate together.
Competition, travel, careers, business and community can all grow from the game.
Some of those young beginners will discover extraordinary ability.
Some may become champions.
Some may become captains.
Some coaches.
Some committee members.
Some simply the grandparent who puts a club into a child's hands one day.
All of those outcomes matter.
Dave with 2 sons and father. Three generations enjoying a competitive game of golf, the boys won on the 18th!
The purpose of a development pathway is to give every child the opportunity to find out how far golf can take them.
For most, success will mean enjoyment, confidence, friendships, club membership and a lifetime in the game.
For a small number, the journey can go much further.
YMG programme lists golfers including Matt Fitzpatrick, Georgia Hall, Leona Maguire and Jordan Smith among those who went through the programme.
But one of the stories Dave has remembered most strongly had nothing to do with trophies.
In 2004, The Independent reported the story of a shy seven-year-old whose parents said joining the programme had transformed his confidence and sociability.
"When parents called me aside and said, you need to know you've given us our son back it hit me quite hard. Their young lad had become reclusive, spending all his time in his room on electronic devices. Through the programme he made friends, became an accomplished player and grew as a person. This is not an isolated case, the game itself develops youngsters in ways that cannot be over-estimated, especially in these modern times".
Teaching, learning and developing junior golf.
Of young golfers personally coached.
Creator of the original progression concept.
Junior golf development work internationally, including R&A / PGAs of Europe activity in Costa Rica.
"I've been in golf all my life, I started playing aged 7 and had a fantastic time as a youngster in a golfing family. I turned professional at the age of 20 and spent my coaching career specialising in junior golf, in mentoring and developing young talent. To a point where over 20 pupils have actually joined the ranks of professional golf and countless others playing at international, national and county level.
I am a father to 3 boys who all played golf as soon as they could walk and can all quite happily play scratch golf now, when they go out with their friends. I have been the junior, the professional teacher and the father of young players and Bitesize Golf is everything I know encapsulated in a structured, long-term development pathway that's guaranteed to produce outstanding results and fantastic, well educated, well-rounded young players.
All of this material, the thoughts and ideas are all borne from a lifelong passion for giving kids the opportunity and the gift of golf. I have travelled the world, been to the most beautiful locations and played some of the world's finest golf courses. I have met and played with stars, V'I'P's and royalty and enjoyed every single second of it, except for when I 3 putt to turn a birdie into a bogey!"
Dave Gosling - FPGA 35 years, Founder, Creator, Author YMG & Bitesize Golf.
Dave with International YMG teams
Dave teaching in Tambor School, Costa Rica
Dave at the 17th Sawgrass
Dave speaking at pga's Europe conference
Dave at St Andrews
Bitesize Golf may have been created by one coach, but growing junior golf will never be a one-person job.
Parents.
PGA Professionals.
Golf clubs.
Former YMG coaches.
Junior organisers.
Grandparents.
Golf bodies.
And, most importantly, young golfers themselves.
Everyone can play a part.
Help your child learn, practise and progress even if specialist junior coaching is not available nearby.
Bring structure, progression and a complete curriculum to your junior academy.
Give families a better junior pathway and help create golfers for life.
Access the Bitesize learning journey wherever the game takes you.
If you coached, assisted or supported Young Masters Golf, we would love to reconnect and welcome you into the next chapter.
Put the complete Bitesize Golf learning journey in your pocket.
Find the right Bitesize Golf route for you, your family, your club or your coaching.
Discover the printed learning resources behind the Bitesize Golf pathway.
