Submitted Photo Minot Junior Golf Association Director of Golf Programming Parker Bartels speaks to a group of children about MJGA and the day’s activities at the Minot State Bubble. MJGA is a non-profit that aims to provide easier access and lessons to the youths of Minot. Photo courtesy of Minot Junior Golf Association.

Minot Junior Golf Association Director of Golf Programming Parker Bartels says golf is exploding in popularity among the youth of Minot, and he is doing all he can to keep the ball rolling.

Bartels was raised just outside Fargo in a little town called Oxbow. He was still in school and looking for a job when he applied to work at the Minot Junior Golf Association. In March of 2024, Bartels was brought on.

Bartels grew up on a golf course in a house his parents built. He played golf for Kindred High School and played four years at St. John’s University by St. Cloud, Minnesota, so when he came to Minot, he brought the love of the sport with him.

The Minot Junior Golf Association started in 1989, operating as a non-profit with the goal of fostering the love of golf in the Minot area. In 2003, MJGA opened the Jack Hoeven Wee Links Golf Course, a nine hole course for kids to learn and play golf.

MJGA also manages the Bunker, and indoor golf training facility. Both the Wee Links and the Bunker are overseen by Bartels, and he has used both of them to grow the sport of golf here in Minot.

Bartels says the sport has already gained a lot of popularity significantly in the short time he has been here.

“We’ve seen a significant amount of growth over the last year,” Bartels said. “Last summer, I had 150 kids every Wednesday for lessons in the mornings. This winter, we had 110 people up at the Minot State bubble the first time and 90 there the second time.”

Bartels mentioned he would hold camps every third Saturday of every month for the first 24 kids who were able to sign up. These filled up a month in advance.

Golf has also grown significantly among high schoolers. This year, Minot North and Minot High have a combined total of 80 boys for golf, Our Redeemer’s has 34, Nedrose has 18, South Prairie has about 20. Bartels says that Bishop Ryan, for the first time in a long time, has been able to fill up two to three JV teams on top of their varsity team.

“We’re seeing growth [in high school],” Bartels said. “The one area I’m trying to focus on is getting girls’ participation numbers up.”

Bartels says he is bringing in experienced female golfers like Minot State’s Becca Tschetter and Lauryn Keller and even his own sister to help lead the junior girls’ golf camps.

He explains that playing golf opens up a lot of doors for girls as they go into college. Universities are often looking for female golfers and will often offer scholarships for female players.

One large factor that keeps kids from getting into golf is the cost. According to the PGA’s website, their junior leagues can cost $385 per player. Bartels says that kind of cost can keep kids from playing a game they would otherwise love.

“That’s what Junior Golf is here for,” said Bartels. ” We’re a charitable organization, we’re a non-profit. What we try and do is make it, the game of golf, as affordable as possible.”

Bartels has big plans for MJGA and golf in Minot. He wants to get the program to a point where he will need to hire additional help to serve the public.

“Minot Junior Golf serves an area of sixty-mile radius outside Minot,” Bartels said. “I’m hoping at one point to be able to have this junior league at all these golf courses, and these kids [to] continue to intertwine and play against kids from other schools and get to know each other and just have it continue to grow at the rate it’s growing.”

Just at the Wee Links, there were over 1500 more rounds played over the last year versus years previous.

“I’m just hoping to continue to see the growth to where Minot becomes a powerhouse in the high school golf world and we see a lot more kids out of Minot winning summary events versus kids in the east,” said Bartels.

Bartels explained that growing up, it was always the kids out in the eastern part of North Dakota who were stronger in golf. His goal is to specifically get Minot and the surrounding area to become known for producing good golfers and win state titles.

“I just wanted to continue to give kids the opportunity to be able to play golf that’s affordable, but at the same time enjoy it while they are there,” said Bartels.

He says that he is really looking forward to June, July and August when he can really focus on MJGA events and leagues. He says he wants to see just how big he can make it.