NATCHEZ — Youth golfers flocked to Duncan Park Monday morning for the beginning of the seventh annual Norman Puckett junior golf clinic.

Around 30 golfers participated in the first session. Duncan Park course manager Greg Brooking said he was pleased with the turnout of the first session of the five-week clinic.

“It is tremendous,” Brooking said. “I think back about Mr. Puckett and how he used to love to help the kids. When we were little, he used to help us learn the game of golf and he loved the game himself tremendously. To see him honored and see the kids happy to be here is great. I’m really excited about having this many kids out here.”

Along with Brooking, PGA pro Jimmy Hendrick and Natchez resident and 11-time city champion Pete Powell are leading the instruction.

“Essentially, we are teaching them golf etiquette, the rules of golf and how to act,” Brooking said. “We’ll start with the short game and work with some pitching and chipping, then we’ll take them to the range to hit some balls, as well. It goes through the whole gambit of golf.”

Brooking said he hopes the tournament will help make golfers out of the youth.

“What we intend to do is build junior golfers in Natchez,” he said. “So the golf teams will have good players and so that some of these kids might have college scholarships one day and they will learn to enjoy the game.”

Behind it all, though, Brooking said it was nice to see a man like Puckett remembered through something he loved.

“Mr. Puckett was always around because he was an avid golfer,” Brooking said. “Say you needed some golf balls or something and Mr. Puckett saw, he would be the first one to say ‘hey kid, have these balls.’ And it would be the same with golf clubs. Sometimes as kids we were a bit unruly and he would be the first person to tell us not to act like that on the golf course because we didn’t know. He is a big part of golf in the city of Natchez.”

The clinic will continue every Monday in June and will conclude with the Norman Puckett Junior Golf Championship.