Levi Payment lined up his club and gently tapped the golf ball, eyes watching its path.

“Oh, oh…” he muttered as the ball rolled toward the hole — then right past it.

“Uhhh,” he groaned, giving the ball a light tap so it plunked in the hole.

Payment, 11, is learning how to putt, chip and drive at Golf For the Health of It, a program co-sponsored by Baker School District and Quail Ridge Golf Course in Baker City for grades four to eight.

“The whole thing is free,” Payment said.

The young golfers are divided into two, three-hour sessions — morning and afternoon. Each group has about 40 students, said Nic Carman, Quail Ridge manager. He, along with several volunteers, led the golfers through stretches, then divided them into smaller groups to rotate through putting, chipping and driving into the net.

For the last hour, they headed out on the course. Participants tee off from the special purple Bulldog tees.

The program, in its fifth year, has 12 sessions. It starts in May and meets on Fridays, then moves to Mondays and Tuesdays after school is out. After it ends in July, the participants are welcome to golf for the rest of the season.

“It’s been excellent,” Carman said. “We have a number of kids who’ve done it several years in a row.”

And if the kids are interested, they’ll entice their parents to come, too.

“Usually the kids drag their parents up and they hit balls into the net,” he said.

The gear

Each golfer is fitted with clubs based on his or her height. They are provided with four clubs — putter, wedge, fairway club and a driver.

“They get the basics of the game with those four clubs,” said Mike Brooks. “The idea is to introduce them to the game.”

Brooks, who volunteers with the program, has taught golf since becoming a golf pro in 1986.

“That’s a lot of kids. Millions — at least it feels like it,” he said with a laugh.

At his station, Brooks reminded the golfers on proper form for chipping, then had each hit 25 balls while aiming at hula hoop targets.

On the putting green, volunteer Jordan Ferguson explained the system — there were nine holes, each with a flag color that matched a starting point. The kids kept track of their strokes, learning the vocabulary of birdie, par and bogey.

As he putted, August Rockwell, 9, was quick to think of his favorite part of the program so far.

“Making a hole-in-one — on this putting green,” he said.

Josiah Lee, 12, said he really likes to be on the golf course.

“My favorite is number 10,” he said. “There’s a place you can lose a ball — it’s fun, if it’s not your ball.”

As she tugged on a glove, Ella Richardson, 8, didn’t talk about the golf course or the putting green. Her favorite part is what’s in her golf bag.

“My driver. I have two,” she said.

And she’s no stranger to Quail Ridge.

“Grandpa takes me every day,” she said.