A stable of Minnesota organizations is succeeding at introducing young people to golf, which is making the world a better place one golfer, and caddie, at a time.
It wasn’t all that long ago when many kids and teenagers didn’t have access to the game of golf. About the only kids who had a chance to play were those lucky enough to be members at a country club, or those who had a parent or adult to introduce them to the game.
There were always a few, of course, who gained their own access to the local municipal course without a green fee. During long, lazy summers, many golf courses were rather barren on weekdays. Some kids, including this writer, found themselves playing their rounds in non-numeric sequences as far away from the clubhouse as possible—dictated by a need to avoid the green-fee collecting ranger.
During the last couple of decades, however, things have changed quite dramatically, and there’s no longer a need for would-be junior golfers to sneak onto golf courses. More and more young people here in Minnesota—especially those who face barriers of all kinds—are being ushered into golf by a number of non-profit organizations.
These organizations have what can be described as a two-pronged goal: to grow the game of golf from the ground up and to make the kids—and in a small way, the world—better as a result. The kids get lessons about golf and life, get to play the game on real golf courses and are often supplied with their own golf clubs.
The Minnesota groups leading the way in this effort include the Fairway Foundation, the Minnesota Minority Junior Golf Association, five chapters of The First Tee (Three Rivers Park District, St. Paul, St. Cloud, Rochester and Minneapolis, which has kids involved at numerous city courses) and Victory Links at the National Youth Golf Center in Blaine. Each summer at Victory Links, thousands of kids take part in a variety of youth golf programs, including kids who are and are not associated with The First Tee.
“Anyone who enjoys and appreciates golf for the lifelong sport that it is—for being a sport that gets you outdoors on a beautiful day, and for a sport that, at its very heart, is a social game that involves interacting with others, paying attention to some rules of etiquette, and following the rules of the game through the honor system—loves to see this fine sport passed on to future generations,” says Erick Goodlow, the volunteer chair and president of the Fairway Foundation, based in the Twin Cities. “Our goal is to bring the game to the under-represented youth.”
The same is true for The First Tee program, which in addition to teaching golf teaches young people a progression of life skills. By now, many golfers are familiar with The First Tee’s nine core values: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment. Kids can also choose to progress through The First Tee’s four-level certification program. While working their way through the Par, Birdie, Eagle and Ace levels, the students are tested on what they’ve learned about golf and life.
The leaders of these Minnesota organizations have many stories to share about how their groups, and the game of golf, have changed lives. One such story has its roots in The First Tee program of the Three Rivers Park District, which includes golf courses in Hennepin and Scott counties. The story involves Sam Mosko, who faced a few barriers when her father, Frank, first took her to the Three Rivers Park District’s Eagle Lake Youth Golf Center some seven summers ago.
“My dad took me to the driving range there just to hit some golf balls when I was in eighth grade,” recalls Mosko, of Plymouth. “I hadn’t played much golf at all before that, but while we were there, a woman teaching professional [Laura Porras] came up to me and asked if I’d heard of the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program, which is associated with The First Tee. So, I started out in the program with eight other girls. We got lessons and played golf and learned about life. It was a great experience, and the program has grown so much. Last year there were more than 200 girls involved.”
In short order, Mosko was quite a golfer, qualifying for the state girls golf tournament as a freshman in high school. By the time she graduated from Robbinsdale-Armstrong High School, she’d qualified for the state tournament four years in a row, finishing as high as seventh place.
“If [Porras] hadn’t approached me that day,” Mosko says, “I’m sure I never would have gotten involved in golf. And as it turned out, it’s been the best thing for me. I just think there’s something about golf that lends itself to making you a better person, teaching you self-discipline, honesty and social skills. The First Tee teaches its core values, which are great, and golf just teaches you to be a good person.”
Through her involvement with the LPGA-USGA and The First Tee, Mosko qualified for several big events, national leadership programs and tournaments throughout the country. Included was a trip to play in The First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. Seventy junior players qualify annually for the event, which is an official stop on the PGA Tour’s Champions Tour.
This coming fall, Mosko will start her junior year as a full-scholarship golfer at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. As a sophomore this past season, she played in about half of the team’s dozen or so tournaments. “She’s doing a great job for us, and she keeps improving because she has a great work ethic,” says her coach at Old Dominion, Pat Kotten. “I know The First Tee did a lot for Sam, and her experiences helped make her the golfer that she is today—and helped make her the person she is.”
Troy Nygaard, who runs the Three Rivers First Tee program at three golf courses, says Mosko is one of thousands of kids who have benefited from the program since it was founded in 2001. “We’ve had about 14,000 kids take part, and of those, about 1,300 have chosen to become certified,” says Nygaard. “One of the big things that The First Tee teaches kids is to meet other people, including adults, and to introduce themselves properly. It seems like a small thing, but it is important. We’ve also had kids involved who moved here from other places and other countries, and who were quite shy when they came. Being in our program gave them confidence to be part of their new environment in Minnesota.”
Goodlow says about 5,000 kids have taken part in the Fairway Foundation program since it was founded in 1993 by the MGA, with critical support from volunteer PGA professionals including the late Larry Nelson. One of the keys to the program is that it has a van, meaning it can transport kids, typically ages 8–15, from the city to the area’s various golf courses and events. “That really helps us out, because transportation is often a big barrier for kids to get into and play golf,” Goodlow says.
While the program does not adhere to any requirements for participation, the goal is to bring the game to under-represented youth. That often means kids from urban areas. “We leverage some of our relationships with the golf courses of the area to get the kids some fine golf instruction,” says Goodlow. For example, last year the program transported two groups of girls to the Minnesota Women’s Golf Association clinic at Rush Creek Golf Course in Plymouth.
The Fairway Foundation markets itself to kids through a variety of places, such as YMCAs, community recreation centers, churches—“anywhere where kids who wouldn’t otherwise know much about golf can find out about us,” Goodlow says. “Of course, word of mouth often spreads our message among parents who want their kids to do more with their summers than sit around.”
To give the kids a sense of ownership in the program, the Fairway Foundation charges a $100 fee to participate, for example, in the summer season. The kids can pay all or part of that fee through selling fundraiser raffle tickets.
When kids in the Fairway Foundation are not learning about golf, or out golfing with their fellow participants, they’re taking part in off-season and in-season programs that touch on such topics as drugs and other teen issues. Similar to The First Tee program, the Fairway Foundation has kids progress through a series golf and life skills. The Club level is for newcomers, while the Junior Tigers and Tigers are for those with more experience.
While there have been many success stories, Goodlow points to one young man as an example of what the Fairway Foundation can do. “Desmond Calloway is one young man from the north side of Minneapolis who participated in the Fairway Foundation in the mid- to late-90s,” says Goodlow. “Without the Fairway Foundation, he probably would never have gotten involved in golf. Well, he went to Kansas State University and now is in aviation. In fact, just last spring he was graduating from aviation school and will move on to become a pilot. And, he’s come back each summer while in college to help us out.”
While the aforementioned programs emphasize getting kids involved in playing golf, the Minnesota Minority Junior Golf Association (MMJGA) gets kids involved in caddieing, which, in turn, often gets them involved in playing the game. Caddieing, as the program’s leaders point out, is a good way for kids to learn life skills and earn some good money as well.
“We’ve really got something exciting going here,” says founder and executive director F. Clayton Tyler, a Minneapolis attorney. “Each year, we take about 50 kids, mostly from the inner city, and get them involved in the caddie programs at some of the private golf clubs here in the Twin Cities, including Golden Valley Golf and Country Club, Minikahda Club, Minneapolis Golf Club and Oak Ridge Country Club. It’s meant so much to so many kids. It brings them into an environment in which they are totally unfamiliar and teaches them to feel comfortable in that environment, which gives them lots of self-esteem.” In addition, the teens learn how to work hard for financial gains—they can make up to $4,000 per summer. As noted, they also learn about golf.
“It’s interesting that while the idea was to get the kids involved in caddieing, many of them have also gone on to play some golf at a higher level,” says Tyler. “But that makes sense, because many great golfers learned about the sport through caddieing. But most important, they learn about life and can make some good connections with some important people.”
The organization is working on forming a closer partnership with the Evans Scholars Foundation, which provides full college scholarships to good caddies with solid grades and a financial need. Tasha Phillips, who started caddieing through the MMJGA at age 12, became the first female minority caddie to receive an Evans Scholarship, according to Tyler. She’s currently a junior at the University of Minnesota majoring in African-American studies.
On the MMJGA’s website, Tasha, who played golf in high school, is quoted as saying: “At first, I didn’t like caddieing; it was a lot more work than I thought it would be. But then, I really started liking it. I got paid to be outside and get exercise, and I started meeting people my own age who were interested in the same things I was.”
While the many junior programs here in Minnesota have produced some fine golfers, that’s certainly not their main goal. Most of the kids involved will improve their chipping and approach shots, but more important, their lives. MG
