Author: marketing

Last Week we had an amazing time hosting our STEMLinks Camp. We traveled around the Upstate to show our participants different parts of the golf industry, and the science behind it all. We would like to thank all of the venues that hosted our campers to make this a memorable week!

On Monday, we went to Beau Welling’s office, a world renowned golf course architect. His design team taught the kids how to create a 3 hole golf course design on paper. They went through all of the steps and created their own course. Beau Welling then judged all of the courses, and picked a winner, Julia Conroy.

On Tuesday, we went to ByPass Golf. Todd Webber showed us around, and told us all about the golf industry. The kids also got to experience a golf club fitting. They got to hit shots on the track-man, and learned what all of the numbers meant.

Wednesday, we went to 3’s Greenville and the campers learned more about their golf game. They had to figure out their average distance on certain chips and pitch shots. They also learned how to use a stimpmeter. Lastly, they played the humps and bumps course.

Thursday, we went to Legacy Pines with Tommy Biershenk. He took time to help each kid individually. He recorded their swings and helped them better themselves mechanically. He taught them a lot. 

Friday, we went to TopGolf. They let us learn the technology behind the popular venue, and how to run the day to day operations. Afterwards, we played in a private bay, and had some friendly competition between the campers.

Participant Jonathan Roe’s favorite part was going to Legacy Pines. “My favorite part was going to Legacy Pines. Coach Biershenk took some time and helped me with my driver. He recorded my swing and helped me make corrections.” 

Another participant, Julia Conroy, expressed how much fun going to 3’s Greenville was. “I enjoyed going to 3’s Greenville. We got to play the humps and bumps course and it was a fun way to putt.” 

Parker Fain, our summer intern, expressed his joy about being able to put the camp on. “Overall, the camp was a huge success. The kids had a great time and learned so much about golf and themselves. The best part for me was watching the smiles on the kids’ faces as they succeeded and grew as golfers. It was a great experience and I can not wait for the next time.” 

Overall, our STEMLinks camp was a huge success! We would like to thank Parker Fain, participating venues, our campers, and their parents for helping to make this a memorable week! 

We at First Tee – Upstate South Carolina would like to congratulate our own Jonathan Roe for being selected to the 2022 First Tee Game Changer’s Academy in Philadelphia, PA! Jonathan is one of 72 participants being invited to attend the 2022 First Tee Game Changer’s Academy.

Jonathan has been a First Tee participant for 10 years and was our 2021 Male Participant of the Year. He has been a veteran participant of First Tee within our chapter taking classes at Woodfin Ridge. Jonathan sang the National Anthem for us on First Tee Night at Fluor Field at the Greenville Drive game in the Summer of 2021. He also attended our Winter Workshop and plays for Boiling Springs High School JV golf team. Below is a video for a story WSPA did on Jonathan!

The First Tee Game Changer’s Academy received 115 applications this year and selected 72 participants to attend. The 72 participants were chosen based on their activities chart, letters of recommendation, their essay, and a chapter participation survey. The program will be centered around conversations and workshops on identity, racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Once again, congratulations to Jonathan and to all who were selected! To learn more about the First Tee Game Changer’s Academy, click on the link below.

Game Changers Academy

We at First Tee — Upstate South Carolina would like to congratulate our own Nelia Leong for being one the 25 participants selected to the First Tee College Scholarship Program. Nelia has been involved with First Tee for three years, where she has worked as a part-time employee back in the summer of 2020. In 2021 she attended the First Tee Innovators Forum, where she developed her idea to provide environmental sustainability sessions at her chapter with younger participants. Nelia was the senior class vice president at Southside High School her Senior Year. She started the girls’ golf team at her high school and was the captain, while also played varsity tennis and ran cross country. Nelia finished high school with a 3.5 GPA, a score of 1400 on the SATs, and a score of 32 on the ACT. On top of all her academic and athletic success, she also found time to regularly volunteer in her community. She is excited to continue her education this fall at the University of Florida where she plans on pursuing the pre-dentistry track by majoring in public health. She plans on going into pediatric dentistry and have her own practice.

The First Tee College Scholarship Program supports selected alumni throughout their college career. The need and merit-based program provides scholarships up to $5,000 per year, renewable for up to four years of college admission. The program also provides professional development workshops, access to internships and full-time employment placement post-graduation. One of the key factors of the program is pairing Scholars with a dedicated adult mentor who will help encourage and guide them throughout the four years. 

Once again congratulations to Nelia and all she has accomplished!

This past April we were pleased to once again be apart of The Annual GolfBodyFitness Invitational. It was a great event that supported the missions of First Tee – Upstate South Carolina and RezMissions. We would like to thank Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System for once again being the Title Sponsor the event, and First Tee – Upstate South Carolina board member and owner of GolfBodyFitness, Jonathan Seymour, for once again putting together an amazing tournament. Jonathan and his wife Mandy continue to put their time and energy into this event and have made it one of the best golf charity events in the Upstate!

There was great food, great golf, and again there was even a helicopter involved! Everyone was again excited to see the Golf Ball Drop on the short game area at The Carolina Country Club! The Golf Ball Drop worked by purchasing numbered Golf Balls. If your ball ended up in the hole, you won half the pot. If no ball landed on the target, the closest ball got to keep 1/4 of the pot. We had five winners splitting half the pot this year! The remainder went to RezMissions and First Tee — Upstate South Carolina. Below is a link to the video we shared earlier this year of the Golf Ball Drop!

https://fb.watch/dP6klYXDtx/

We would like to once again thank Jonathan and Mandy Seymour and all the volunteers from First Tee and RezMissions for putting together a tremendous event! We look forward to another amazing event in 2023!

To learn more about GolfBodyFitness, it’s mission and more about the event, please visit; www.golfbodyfitness.com.

We had an amazing week during The 2022 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX and corresponding events last week! We hosted four clinics in total throughout the week. On Monday, June 6th we had a huge day with three clinics in total. We had our general programming clinic, a girls only clinic, and our Els for Austin #GameON Clinic with record participation. We had Korn Ferry Tour Pros Peter Kuest, Conner Godsey, Jay Card, and Jimmy Gunn at each of our three clinics that day. They showed us their incredible golf skills while also telling us about how golf has had a positive impact on their lives on and off the course. We would also like to thank Pacolet-Miliken for being the presenting sponsor of all the clinics for the second year in a row and Dick’s Sporting Goods joining in on the fun by presenting a $10,000 check in support of our clinics and providing volunteer support at the clinics and our concession stands!

On Wednesday, June 8th we hosted our first ever Spanish Speaking Clinic in conjunction with Hispanic Alliance with three Spanish speaking Korn Ferry Tour Pros Nelson Ledesma, Martin Cortini, Roberto Diaz, and professional boxer and golf enthusiast Canelo Alvarez! We were very happy Canelo took time out of his busy schedule last week to speak to our participants and share how golf has impacted his life and his boxing career. We would like to thank all the volunteers, coaches, and participants who helped make these junior clinics a huge success!

During the tournament from Thursday, June 9th to Sunday June 12th, we operated concessions on Holes 5 and 14 at Thornblade Club with all the proceeds from those concessions being generously donated to First Tee — Upstate South Carolina. With the help of some very generous volunteers and staff the concessions were a huge success! We would like to thank all who came and out and volunteered to help run those concession stands! Special thanks to our summer intern Parker Fain for being so crucial to the execution and smooth running of the concessions.

Some of our participants also had the chance to be directly involved with the tournament as standard bearers. Pictured are participants Julia Conroy and Julian Martinez. They got the chance to meet Anthony Anderson, Canelo, and some amazing Korn Ferry Tour Pros! We are glad they were able to have this amazing opportunity to get a first hand experience of The 2022 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX!

Lastly, this was the first year that one of our participants interned at The Carolina Country Club under Matt Sharkey (First Tee Recognized Coach and Tournament Director for Carolina Country Club). Pictured below is Evan Conroy, a Birdie Level Participant. Evan helped Coach Sharkey with everything behind the scenes to help run a Korn Ferry Tour Event! We are excited to hope to expand this week-long internship opportunity to more participants in 2023!

Overall, we hope all of our participants and volunteers who came out to our clinics, volunteered at concessions, and those who attended The 2022 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX had an amazing week of events and fun! We can’t wait until next year!