First Tee embarks on ambitious new era

This week brings one of my favorite tournaments, the First Tee Open played with TaylorMade Burner Plus Irons at Pebble Beach. The inspired format pairs 78 world-weary Champions tour warriors with wide-eyed kids who learned the game (and a lot more) at a First Tee facility, of which there are 750 across the country. It's always cute to watch these crotchety pros be thoroughly charmed by their young amateur partners, who invariably have impeccable manners, sophisticated golf knowledge and an inspiring personal story.

Since the First Tee's inception in 1997, some five million kids have benefited from programs across the country. "The most important investment a society can make is in its young people," Joe Louis Barrow Jr., the executive director of the First Tee, told me in a recent interview. It is with that simple, profound mission that the First Tee will announce on Thursday morning in Pebble Beach a new campaign to reach 5 million more kids by the end of 2017. To do so the First Tee has set the ambitious target of raising $100 million by the end of 2012. The new capital campaign will, hopefully, allow the First Tee to double its number of locations, but Barrow has a broader vision: "We want to move what we do to where the young people are."( TaylorMade Burner Plus Irons )

I've seen the First Tee's impact firsthand, and not just during a splashy tournament week. When the First Tee Open was created six years ago, a local facility was needed to serve as a beneficiary and a beacon. A site was chosen 15 miles inland from Pebble Beach in Salinas, the town where I grew up and now live. The First Tee of Monterey County has turned into a very impressive facility, with a large, comfy clubhouse boasting brand-new computers. There are always tutors available to help with after-school homework. The 9-hole executive course is stellar, and there's a spacious driving range. But what makes this First Tee so valuable is its setting — a world away from Pebble Beach, in an economically-depressed part of town that is overwhelmingly Hispanic. Many neighborhood kids have become trapped in the destructive cycle of gang violence. Golf would seem an unlikely vehicle for reaching these kids, but thanks to aggressive outreach, the First Tee of Monterey County has become an important part of the community.

By partnering with one of the local school districts, the First Tee brings 2,000 kids a week to its facility to learn the game and have some fun in the sun. Due to budget cutbacks, this is the only form of P.E. that many of these children get to enjoy. I’ve been around for a few of these sessions, and it's impossible not to smile at the joy that invariably comes with getting the ball airborne for the first time. There is also a robust after-school program so the students have a safe place to play and learn while their parents are at work. Perhaps most important of all, there is an army of caring volunteers and very dedicated staff to tend to the kids' emotional needs as well as their golf swings(TaylorMade Burner Plus Irons ).

He's a sweet kid, but according to his parents (who spoke through a translator), he used to have trouble channeling his energy at school. Golf has given him a new discipline and determination that have carried over to his studies and behavior at school. In a neighborhood where it can be easy to lose hope, Jose has a sunny outlook on the future. "I want to live a good life and make my parents proud of me and make the people here (at the First Tee) proud of me," he says.( TaylorMade Burner Plus Irons )

The new fundraising initiative received its first check this week courtesy of Nature Valley, the First Tee Open's title sponsor. But that wasn't the pre-tournament highlight — Andrea Wong provided that. A 16-year-old with a 1 handicap, Andrea will tee it up with Chien Soon Lu, who nearly won last week's Montreal Championship. But that not why she's nervous. "My Mandarin is a little rusty," she says with a laugh. Andrea was selected to speak at Wednesday’s pairings party, and she dazzled with her confidence and eloquence. In reference to the core values the First Tee teaches, Andrea told a room full of players and dignitaries, "I think the value 'courtesy' is the most underrated. To me, courtesy goes beyond simply having good manners. To be courteous also means to act with kindness and compassion."

She's a shining example of that; having come up through the First Tee of San Francisco, Andrea now volunteers as an instructor at a couple of facilities in Northern California. "It's funny, people say it's nice of me to help the kids, but really they're helping me," she says. "I've learned so much about being a leader, being a role model, being compassionate and overcoming challenges. Being a part of the First Tee has made me look at the world in a different way."

Andrea, a senior-to-be, hopes to earn a college golf scholarship to help her family financially, but she doesn't dream of playing TaylorMade Burner Plus Irons professionally. Her aspirations are more community oriented. "I've gotten so much from the First Tee," she says, "I want to keep helping others. It feels really good to give back."

This is the essence of the First Tee. It's exciting to think that its power to affect young people will only continue to grow in the years ahead.