The First Tee Volunteers at U.S. Girls' Junior
The First Tee lends a hand at the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship in collaboration with the Lake Merced Golf Club. This collaboration resulted in a win-win situation for both the organization and the golf club.
A huge event such as the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship cannot function properly without volunteers. These helping hands are required to keep the event flowing smoothly and take care of minute details that have the potential of snowballing into major disasters.
The First Tee, a golf training and coaching program for young people is a tremendous effort that is fully supported by major golf bodies across the US. The aim is to identify talent early on and train and nurture it to the amateur stage.
At the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, the collaboration between the golf course and the First Tee is an extension of this goal.
By allowing potential candidates to volunteer at the prestigious tournament, the program hopes to bring in more youngsters into the sport.
At the event, the young golfers had the time of their life. They started early and were at the venue before the start of the matches. The volunteers ran chores, served as standard bearers and collected the caddie bibs.
On top of that, the volunteers got to interact with the players. Many young volunteers have just entered the game and know many names that played during the event. To see them in flesh and blood was an experience that will go a long way in developing the
interest of volunteers.
The First Tee is well aware of this potential encouragement. An official of the program said, “It’s been really great for a lot of the girls in our program. They see Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at Olympic Club [during last month’s U.S. Open], but at 35
years old, they should be good. Here they got to see kids their own age playing at a high level”.
Lake Merced Golf Club is looking for candidates for its Junior Merit program. This collaboration is an attempt to identify young people who have interest in golf and can be groomed to play at higher levels of the sport.
This type of collaborations provides lifeblood to any sport and keeps them going after the current corps of superstars has long gone.
Tags: