Played 9 with my son yesterday.
He hit two milestones in his golfing career. This was only his 4th round of golf in his life (he's 13).
On the 6th hole, he made his first ever par. It's a short course, so it's about a 60 yard hole. He hit a partial PW that was beautiful, hit the green, and rolled to the back fringe. I reminded him "think about the putt, read the green, and plan what you want the ball to do"--because he sometimes gets a little too quick to hit a putt rather than think about it. It was a pretty fast downhill putt, so I was worried he was going to kill it 6 feet past the hole, and he hit it with PERFECT pace and it finished 12 inches right of the hole, giving him an easy par putt.
Then, on the 8th hole, which was about an 85 yard par 3, he hit a full-swing PW with a nice little draw on it that hit about pin high and rolled ~15 feet past. He flat out told *me* this time that he was going to make sure he looked this one over and thought about it... Which was good, because he sunk the putt for the first ever birdie of his life too!
For his 14th birthday I've signed him up for a little Jr golf camp at the same course, so in another 2 weeks he's going to get four days of actual professional instruction. I think he'll be ready to go out for 18 soon.