Junior Golf: The First Step

Five programs for others to emulate

By Topsy Siderowf
August 2008

Since 2004, The First Tee National School Program has introduced nearly a million kids from 2,000 elementary schools to golf. Reaching out to kids through school programs is a goal supported by the USGA, the PGA of America and the LPGA and PGA tours.

It's also a common thread among Golf Digest's Junior Development Award winners for 2008, the 25th anniversary of the awards: a club, corporation, association, individual and municipality that recognize that the game's future depends on giving kids opportunities to learn the skills golf demands.

THE 2008 WINNERS

Hershey Trust Company

Category: Corporation

Background: When chocolatier Milton S. Hershey established the Milton Hershey School in Pennsylvania in 1909 as a boarding school for needy kids, he didn't foresee that one day the curriculum would include golf. It's an option for all 1,700 students but required for some.
Photo By Jenson Larson

Owensboro, Ky.

Category: Municipality

Under the leadership of PGA professional Don Mitchell, 475 Owensboro youths get golf instruction and guidance year-round. The First Tee of Owensboro operates at Perfect Swing, the nine-hole junior course and practice facility Mitchell built with financial help from the community.
Photo By Frankie Steele

Major Henry S. Williams Jr.

Category: Individual

Nothing makes Major Henry Williams prouder than to count the kids from his program who went to college. Participants in the Buffalo (N.Y.) Inner City Youth Fan Club for Golfing, founded by Williams in 1993, receive academic instruction and personal reinforcement along with golf.
Photo By Todd Bennet

TPC Twin Cities

Category: Club

Junior clinics and competitions for young members and Kids Day for more than 2,000 fourth- and fifth-graders from 12 area elementary schools are among programs at this private club in Blaine, Minn. Kids from five local First Tee chapters are encouraged to play at reduced green fees.
Photo By Jami Hansmeyer

South Carolina Junior Golf

Category: Association

From free clinics at the grassroots level for Little Legends to a tour series for advanced players, nearly 3,000 juniors throughout the state participate in programs sponsored and funded by the SCJGA. The association also provides access to courses with special rates, free equipment and college aid.
Photo By David Walter Banks

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Five programs for others to emulate,
Junior awards,
junior golfers,
junior camps

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