When Steve Capon arrived at South Lakes Golf Club, the junior program was virtually non-existent, but through some local research and savvy fundraising, the South Australian club is now brimming with kids.

With a vison in 2019 to invigorate the junior program at the Goolwa club found near the mouth of the mighty Murray River, PGA Professional Capon turned to club patron Tony Bedford for support and guidance.

"I said to Tony, because he's been here since the club opened, 'what avenues have we got to somehow try and sponsor some of these kids to just give them a crack?'," Capon said.

"Tone turned around and said, 'Capo, for the last 10 years, every can and bottle that's come out of the clubhouse or the pro shop, I've gone through and taken them to the recycling depot and I've put that money in a junior account'.

"To this day, I've never actually got a figure out of the club, but it was somewhere in the area of five to ten grand was just sitting there."

With old clubs that the club already had, Capon made up several sets, and pulled from the fund to get 25 polo shirts and caps made up for the new South Lakes Golf Club Junior Squad.

The fund also allowed Capon to set up a sponsorship which would allow kids to participate in the first year of the junior program for free.

"I had enough money in the fund that I was able to then turn around to the parents and say, 'if we get to a point where your child's attendance is at 50 per cent or greater throughout the year, we will then sponsor into the second year'," Capon said.

Coming from a swimming background, Capon devised a junior program that would encourage consistent participation, and award the young golfers as they progressed through Bronze, Silver and Gold stages.

"At the end of that first year, I think we had 21 kids, every single one of them graduated Bronze. They all got their certificates," Capon said.

"Each kid got a shirt, a cap, a year's worth of membership and 50 clinics through the Sundays, and they all proved they deserved another year."

"I think it's footstep after footstep, left after right sort of thing. There are kids here. If you build it, they will come. If they have a good time, they will come back and if they feel like they're getting better at something, they'll get super keen.

"So it's been a wonderful journey. It's been a fantastic 18 to 24 months."

With school holiday clinics, three Sunday clinics from Capon's junior program, and the AGF Junior Girls Scholarship Program, South Lakes has become a true home for the kids of Goolwa.

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