Two Age Groups, One Coaching Culture: Chris Yoder and Team YoYo

At Locust Hills Golf Club in August, Chris Yoder’s two teams earned Southern Ohio PGA section titles through different formats. The older Team YoYo players shot 12 under, then 10 under, to finish their 17u competition at 22 under. The 13u squad advanced through qualifying and match play before beating the TGR All-Stars 11-1 for the title.

Both later won their PGA Jr. League Regionals. Now Yoder, PGA, the director of youth player development at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, is preparing for a pair of national championships. The 17u team makes its first appearance at Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico, Oct. 21-25. The 13u players will compete at PGA Frisco in November.

The program has a room at Scioto that once served as storage. Today, it has a putting green, a lounge and displays celebrating the junior teams. It also includes a foosball table and a trophy case. It sits near the range and first tee. In 2024, Yoder said he kept his desk there to make it easier for young golfers to stop between activities.

In 2019, Yoder began reshaping the club’s junior programming around a coaching model. Team practices, tournament trips, fitness work and Ryder Cup-style matches became part of the experience. He knew team golf from Wake Forest, where he played before later becoming an assistant coach, and he credits PGA Professional Dan Priest and college coach Jerry Haas with shaping his approach to young players.

A Southern Ohio PGA interview in 2022 captured how he viewed that work: “We are practicing together, working out together, traveling to tournaments together.”

The connection between age groups was intentional. In a 2024 account of his programming, Yoder described creating Rising Stars+ for 10- to 13-year-olds, giving them experiences similar to those of the older Elite Team. The groups traveled to tournaments and played together. He also described awarding arrowheads for sportsmanship, attitude and work ethic, recognition that did not depend on winning a tournament.

Last November, Yoder took his first 13u team to the PGA Jr. League Championship at Fields Ranch West. Team Ohio reached the final against Team California. After a weather delay of more than two hours, officials shortened the match to six holes, and California prevailed 5.5-2.5.

One moment from that 2025 run illustrates what this partners format can give young players. During the early rounds at PGA Frisco, Lucas Massa struck a long iron to roughly 30 feet at the 18th. His teammate, Maxwell Lattavo, made the eagle putt. Earlier, Lattavo had chipped in for eagle at the eighth. Their contributions were different, and both counted.

PGA Jr. League scramble golf asks partners to make decisions together. Each plays a shot; they choose the ball that gives their pair the best chance, and both continue from that spot. It sounds simple until their options are equally appealing or one partner has just hit a shot they would rather forget.

In my work with young golfers, I’ve found those conversations can be as revealing as the swings that they make. Which ball should we choose? Why? Who needs encouragement after a poor shot? A coach can pose those questions at practice and allow the players to settle them before offering an opinion.

Yoder’s program creates plenty of time for players to learn around each other before they must make those decisions in competition. A coach cannot choose every shot for them. Eventually, two teammates have to settle on a plan while the rest of the field keeps playing.

The older group will represent Ohio among 12 17u All-Star teams at Twin Warriors. The championship began with a welcome event Wednesday and practices Thursday. Teams play scramble stroke play Friday and Saturday, with the semifinals and final scheduled for Sunday.

Assistant coach Grant Gates joins Yoder with the 17u team. Brad Zitzner assists the 13u group, which returns to Fields Ranch West in November. They are separate rosters, even though the program and head coach are the same.

That matters because coaching needs change as golfers grow. A 12-year-old learning to communicate with a partner is developing a skill that a 16-year-old may be asked to use under considerably more pressure. Each age group gets its own competition, while Scioto gives them a place to develop those habits before the championship arrives.

Yoder has already watched one team play for a national title. He now gets to bring another age group to that stage, with the younger team’s turn still to come.