About the same time The First Tee was celebrating its 20th anniversary last November, The First Tee Hawaii was celebrating its rebirth in the islands.
First Tee began in 1997 as a partnership among The Masters, LPGA, PGA Tour, PGA of America and USGA. The goal was “to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf.”
The launch was announced in Central Park by Honorary Chair President George H.W. Bush. November’s anniversary celebrated a program that has touched some 17 million kids in all 50 states and now reaches 5.3 million annually at golf courses, schools and youth centers. It included Chicago executive/Oprah companion Steadman Graham and former Nickelodeon executive, Keith Dawkins, who takes over as First Tee CEO in January.
Hawaii’s celebration was a bit more low key. The First Tee Hawaii originally started in 2006, but a decade later it shut down. It was officially re-started by a non-profit in January, after a large fundraising effort. The next fundraiser is Taste of The First Tee, Nov. 3 at Hoakalei, which donated $5,000 recently.
There are now 200 kids in programs at Ala Wai Driving Range, Bayview, Hoakalei and Royal Kunia. Future neighbor island program sites at Makani and The Dunes at Maui Lani are in the works, along with hopes of doubling the number of students next year.
More than 400 more kids have been introduced to the game at community events, schools (Island Pacific Academy, Kainalu, Kaimiloa, Lanakila Baptist and Kahakai Elementary) and after-school programs (Aloha Council Boy Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Club Hale Pono, Corvid Academy and Seagull Schools Ewa Beach). First Tee leaders would like to partner with 30 schools by 2019.
First Tee is not your grandfather’s introduction to golf, or that of your local pro or junior golf association. Programs are year-round with four “primary sessions” — usually $85 a session — each season consisting of eight one-hour classes. They cover the “nine core values” of confidence, courtesy, honesty, integrity, judgment, perseverance, respect, responsibility and sportsmanship.
And a lot of golf. Groups of six to 18 students have up to five staff coaches and volunteers attempting to “seamlessly integrate” golf and life skills in each activity. There are tournaments and advanced sessions, with scholarships, camps and mentoring and leadership opportunities available.
It works, according to program director Stephen Small.
“Parents love our program because their kids are having fun with their friends and they are becoming good golfers and better people … ,” Small says. “Parents love more opportunities for their kids, but also that they are responsible to define and find their own success as they work through our curriculum.”
Brandon Bell’s family got involved in 2014, soon after he saw potential in 6-year-old daughter Arianna’s baseball swing. Now the Royal Elementary fifth-grader is playing off the women’s tees and dreaming big, her 5-year-old sister Aubrey has started First Tee and their father is on the board.
“I said yeah because my daughter wants to eventually be on the LPGA Tour,” says Brandon, who owns an insurance business. “My wife (Kathy) and I thought we all golf, we’re all in and Arianna is all in. We might as well dedicate our time and we can spend family time golfing.
“The life skills and leadership are what attracted my wife and I. We deal with a lot of business owners and we wanted Arianna to learn things like etiquette and manners and socializing not only from us but from somebody outside. … Now when parents talk it goes in one ear and out the other. If somebody else is there you tend to listen and be more attentive and absorb more. You hear from a different perspective.”
Arianna apparently remembers pretty much all she has ever heard at First Tee.
“The First Tee doesn’t only focus on an individual’s physical ability to play the game of golf,” she wrote in an email. “It helps shape the lives of young people — and their parents — from all walks of life by reinforcing values like integrity, respect and perseverance.”
She figures it is all about her future, but seems to be loving her time now on the golf course.
“She is,” her dad says, “very ambitious.”
