For golf visitors to Myrtle Beach, it’s not uncommon to include a lesson – or lessons – in a vacation. Of course, that’s almost always exclusively for the family’s adults, given the costs of personal instruction. Who can afford to get golf instruction for the youngsters in the family?

Phil Ritson and Mel Sole, owners/instructors at the Ritson-Sole Golf School – a Golf Magazine Top-25 school since 1999 – say they have always supported “growing the game,” and now they’re putting their “money” where their mouths are by offering free one-, two- and three-day teaching programs for juniors 16 and under.

The school, located at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Pawleys Plantation golf course on the Grand Strand’s south end, offers programs for all skill levels, with small classes for personal instruction. Each junior accompanied by a paying adult plays and learns for free, including on-course play in the afternoons; instruction for two or more children is half-price (regular green fees).

Instruction is available as part of Pawleys Plantation’s vacation package when familes stay at villas on site or at nearby Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort. Adults pay $495-$595 for three-day instructional school (prices vary depending on the season).

“We feel that we need to help grow the game and that people should expect first-class instruction at a price they can afford,” said Sole, a former South African PGA Tour player with 40 years-plus experience teaching the game, as well as several books on instruction. Ritson has served as a coach for such PGA Tour stars as Gary Player.

The Ritson-Sole Golf School opened at Pawleys Plantation in 1991. Ritson and Sole also have schools in Greenville, S.C.; Atlanta; Ellicottville, N.Y.; and Mexico. For more information, click here or call (843) 237-4993 or (800) 624-4653.