Cedar Mountain students learn golf

Professional golfer Mary Beth Kohberger and Physical Education Teacher Michele Gonnelli taught the joys of golf, on April 29, to the kindergarten and first-grade classes of Cedar Mountain Primary School. As part of the New Jersey PGA Golf and School Program, Kohberger will help teach golf at Cedar Mountain for the next week.
The morning first-grade class was quite engaged as Kohberger taught them.
One little boy announced, “I do mini-golf.”
Kohberger asked the students what the object of golf was.
“Trying to get the ball into the hole.”
She taught them about the starting point — the tee — and playing nine or 18 holes of golf on a huge area of grass. Kohberger also reviewed the different types of clubs and when to use them: iron, putter, wood, and the driver. One uses the driver — the biggest club — she taught, for the first shot in order to hit the ball farthest from the tee.
One little boy commented, “I didn’t know golf clubs can drive cars.”
Kohberger explained it was a different kind of driver.
She then reviewed having a low score in golf, holding the club, and taking little swings.
“If I were to take a big swing,” she asked, “would the ball go to the target?”
Another little boy answered, “The ball would go to the window. And you’ll break it – the window!”
In summary, she explained, the three keys for golf were to hit the bulls-eye mark on the club, swing the club back and forth the same amount, and catch the tee a little bit, so they did not miss the ball.
Gonnelli had set up eight stations with colored cones, from which students aimed their “golf” balls, actually tennis balls, at targets across the gym.
At the end of their lesson, the students enjoyed running through the gym as they cleaned up the tennis balls for the next class.
A little girl said to Kohberger as she left, “Thank you for teaching us golf.”