First Tee brings youth to golf
May 6—The Terre Haute chapter of First Tee Indiana, which introduces children ages 7-17 to the sport of golf, celebrated receiving a $25,000 grant from the Vigo County Health Department on Thursday afternoon at the Hulman Links Golf Course clubhouse.
Joni Wise, VCHD health administrator, extolled the long- and short-term benefits of the First Tee program, which encourages a healthy lifestyle as well as teaches nine core values — honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment. The health department will give First Tee $25,000 each year for three years.
Mike Harding, facilitator of First Tee in Greater Terre Haute, said the grant will pay for fees, curriculum and equipment and will go to training phys-ed instructors on how to teach golf.
"We have kids playing golf in Terre Haute, but there's not as many as there should be," he said. "We have an overall health problem. If we want healthy adults, we have to start them out on the right foot."
As opposed to sports like basketball and soccer, which people tend to abandon after their school careers, golf is a lifelong sport, Harding said. He brought out an old friend, Terre Haute golf champion Ted Kaperak, and displayed a photo featuring the two of them posing with two other students when they were high school golf champs.
"The important thing about golf is friendship," Harding said.
"Golf teaches you the right way to do things in life, not the wrong way," Kaperak said.
There are 17 First Tee programs throughout the state of Indiana. It was initiated in the state by the Indiana Golf Foundation in 2012.
"The Indiana Golf Foundation has always had the motto of teaching life lessons through the game of golf, so adding First Tee to the Foundation was kind of a no-brainer for us," said Autumn Strong of Indiana Golf. "It's been a great program for us and it's grown exponentially since then."
As the program is a decade old, its graduates are just now coming of age. "We're just now seeing that progression of kids go through the program and graduate — it's exciting to see that starting to happen," Strong said. "We're now starting to see those core group of kids that come back and either help us out either through volunteer work, or working as coaches. We're starting to see that teen retention starting to happen."
First Tee focuses on three components. First, it reaches children through schools in gym class. Next, it introduces golf to those who go to youth centers. Ultimately, the goal is to get kids to play on an actual golf course.
Pamela Malone, a community advocate who grew up in poverty, said that golf could have helped her turn her life around earlier.
"I do believe that it would have been beneficial to me to be exposed to the health and wellness benefits at a younger age," she said. "Having access to green spaces, fresh air, exercise and opportunities to build friendships on the golf course are important. First Tee can transform lives and our community."
Mayor Duke Bennett praised the virtues of First Tee encouraging social virtue.
"There's a lot of excitement in our community about golf," Bennett said. "This can't just be a flash in the pan."
David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.
