First Tee Courses

[Jeff_McDowell]

There are a couple nice First Tee facilities in MN that seem to really help attract kids to the game.

However, The First Tee seems to lack a consistent vision. In Blaine, MN (a growing and increasing wealthy suburb of Minneapolis) the First Tee is building a "kids course" that measurse over 7,000 yards. I don't have the faintest idea of how much it is going to cost, but the State kicked in something like 3 million.

This course is being built across the street from the new Minneapolis TPC. I can't for the life of me figure out why the First Tee is willing to put their names on this project and risk tarnishing their image.

For all the good the program does, a project like this makes me extremely skeptical of their true ambitions.

Building a championship caliber course over 20 miles from Minneapolis in a suburb with plenty of nearby courses does not bring kids to the game.

[A_Clay_Man]

Jeff, I too am skeptical of motive. While on the surface, it appears altruistic. Yet deep down, I sense the future botomliners are their justification. Whether it be land squating, green fees or equiptment sales. Such synergy!

[Bruce Katona]

The First tee program is more than exposure to golf.  First Tee stresses a life skills componant in addition to teaching youngsters the basic fundamentals of golf.The Nine Core Values of The First Tee program are:
Honesty
Integrity
Sportsmanship
Respect
Confidence
Resposibility
Perserverence
Courtesy
Judgement

Aren't these nine values wonderful goals and objectives to stress for our younge people ??

As has been discussed on this site in the past (and maybe should be discussed again) the participation levels in golf have stagnated recently.  Golf can either attract new customers or or go the way of tennis; a slow and steady decline.  By exposing as many people to the game as possible, we can try to attract a broader and wider customer base.  Even we The First Tee has 1% retention for new customers to the game of golf, many kids will be positively influenced by the Life Skills componant and the Nine Core Values.  If even one child goes on to collge after participating in a First tee progam, I beleive the program could be called a success.

[Jeff_McDowell]

Those are wonderful goals. But....

Where's the hoesty in calling a 7,000 yard course a "kids course".

Where's the integrity in standing before state legislature requesting money for a "kids course" and then not doing so.

Where's the respect to all the existing golf facilities.

[Mike Hendren]

Michael J. Fay,

Glad to see you bring up The Little Course at Aspen Grove.  It abuts the club to which I belong, and was likewise designed by Cupp/Kite and is maintained by the same staff.  Dick Horton is a faithful friend of the game and Golf House Tennessee is a model example of junior, amateur and professional golf organizations literally working hand-in-hand.  The course has also doubled as a turfgrass research facility since we live in a weather transition zone.  At one time, a single fairway was sewn with four different types of grass.  For more info, the treehouse is directed to www.golfhousetennessee.com.

I have not made it over to the First Tee facility in Nashville's Shelby Park.  Purportedly, it incorporates the design principals of Donald J. Ross whose long lost plans for the nine hole course there were recently discovered.  I welcome any insight you have to those plans and hope to get a peak at them soon.

Kindest regards,

Mike  

[John_Cullum]

A very good friend of mine who has a high executive position with the PGA says that the money invested in the first tee program is wildly disproportional to any visible results being obtained.

[Forrest Richardson]

John —

Do we really expect Honesty, Integrity, Sportsmanship, Respect, Confidence, Resposibility, Perserverence, Courtesy and Judgement to be "visible" in terms of results? Or is the goal to expose to kids to a great game and encourage them to better pursuits than street gangs, drugs or crime hoping for the best in as many corners of the U.S. as we can reach?

My guess is that your contact at the PGA is probably looking at an annual report which might include licensing revenue from Generation Y or Z sponsors, or perhaps TV viewership/rations of PGA events.

[A_Clay_Man]

Bruce I can't speak for others but I'm sure we'd all agree, those principles are all good. But, as Jeff eludes, one cannot just put up a banner, like some form of billboard advertising. Most of those principles are learned by example. Where's the example? Please don't read this is a snipett or mean in nature but even in your post you refer to "them" as customers.

[Forrest Richardson]

Where's the example?

I've never seen or heard of a First Tee facility that didn't have loads of adult supervision, clinics, visiting pros, etc.  At most, kids are encouraged to play with a parent, big brother or grandparent. I recall reading one proposal several years ago where the pricing was twenty-five cents for kids and $7 for adults — unless accompanied by a kid, in which case the adult was only $1.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Jeff,
Two out of three First Tee programs are located at pre-existing facilities.

Adam,
The "example" is not in the banner, it's found in the great number of volunteers who work with the kids, Pros who spend their time, and in some cases monies, to further the program, and the individuals and companies who contribute their resources to help make it all work.

John,
I cannot think of any new venturs that aren't "wildly  disproportional" in their first few years.
I don't doubt that an additional motivation is to create new customers that stay with the game. Research shows that new golfers spend $885.00 on the game while existing golfers spend $1198.00 each. The long term benefit for golf is apparent, the long term benefit for the kids is even more so, in my opinion.  

[A_Clay_Man]

Gentleman- I suppose my new myopathy, has me a bit edgy. Here, they put up banners that read "character counts". Yet, when scrutinizing the reality, it's all about the power and the money.  I'm not just talking GOLF, either. Clearly the municipality attitude, that is pervasive and conflicting, is largely to blame, in this region.

 But, even in Monterey, it was  just one individual who carried the 1st T ball, with some help from the Salvation Army (because they had exposure to the underprivledged kids) and a few volunteers. The Pro, this gentleman talked into spending two Saturdays a month, ended up being fired by the company under less than stellar circumstances.

I am all behind the "higher road" this program tries to exhibit. But, in my reality, try implies can't. Too many past administrative abuses, negative perceptions, to overcome, before I blindly endorse a pga tour program.

 Pro's need to Exhibit these qualities through action. Be it fixing 20 ball marks per green or picking up trash. Constantly showing while teaching. How many do, or even have that chance?


ps. Forgot to mention the new GM at Pinon Hils, quit.

[Jim_Kennedy]

The First Tee commissioned researchers from the Dept.of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of Florida and from the Dept. of Kinesiology at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to conduct studies to fully understand the impact of the program on its participants. Some findings:

76% of parents observed an increase in their child's confidence after participating in the Life Skills Experience.

74% of parents observed a positive change in their child's communication skills.

52% of parents observed that their child(ren) made better grades in school after particpating in this same program.




 

[John_Cullum]

There are interesting comments by Jack Burke in the May Golf Digest. Basically he says a whole lot of money is being spent to do what courses should have been (and could be) doing all along.

[ian]

Just for perspective.

I saw a very small course in a small town very close to Gullane that had a great sign. Kids welcome, adults are not.
It was strictly a children's course.

My son proved to me that he is ready and dedicated enough to play, but he's 9. We have many municipal courses that allow my son to play, but it sure would be a lot easier if he was playing without the pressure that most adults impose upon children.

At a private club, you have the advantage of "quiet" evening time to play a few holes. In a municipal enviornment, you don't have the time to teach and enjoy the shots. Its a round of orderly golf with the 'adults"

First tee is a great idea and anyone who dismisses this doesn't understand what kids (who are not in a private club enviornment) need.

Forrest, Lester, and others....thanks for building them.

Michael, please say thank-you to anyone who you know who has ever contributed to developing one.

Ian, parent of a new junior golfer.