LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - If you ask Conan Donahue, it's never too early to start golfing.

On July 4, Donahue introduced 18 youth from Fort Simpson to the sport during a junior golf clinic held at the Seven Spruce Golf Course.

Alex Roche, front, chips a ball onto the green at the ninth hole during a junior golf clinic in Fort Simpson while Michael Gast, back left, and Kevin Roche watch another player. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

"It's a good sport for young people to get into," said Donahue, a former recreation director in Fort Simpson who's currently the recreation development officer for the North Slave.

"It's a sport for life."

Golf is one of the few sports that people can play no matter whether they're eight or 80, he said. All young golfers need to get started are a set of clubs, which can be bought fairly inexpensively, and lessons on the basics of the game, Donahue said.

"It's important they get the grip and stance down," he said.

The junior golf clinic started the participants right from the basics including how to hold a club and how to stand. In the morning the participants learned how to chip and putt by starting on a green and then trying to hit the hole from farther away each time.

In the afternoon, Donahue and Dan Deschamps, the village's recreation director, taught the youth how to do a full swing before taking them out on the course to play a few holes.

Despite the limits of working with a large group, many of who had never held a club before, Donahue said he was impressed by the youths' progress.

"By the end of it they were all hitting the ball pretty well," he said.

It's important for clubs to have a strong junior program because that's where the next generation of golfers will come from, said Donahue.

The clinic was offered with the assistance of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, the village of Fort Simpson and the Seven Spruce Golf Course.

It was the first time on the course for Lauren Corneille, who said she would now like to do some more golfing.

"It's a great sport," she said.

Corneille, 10, said she learned the different techniques needed for using a wood or an iron.

"I know how to get it into a hole," said Corneille.

Kevin Roche, who has played golf a few times before, said he learned a lot at the clinic.

"I learned how to hit the ball," Roche said.

It's important to keep your eye on the ball, make sure no one's in front of you and shift all your weight to the front of your stance when you hit the ball, he said.

Roche, 10, said he's also interested in playing golf more often.

"It's fun," Roche said.