We at First Tee — Upstate South Carolina wanted to give a special recognition to our ACE Level participants who are graduating High School. These kids are top level participants and most of them were in the program when First Tee Greenville and First Tee Spartanburg merged into what our chapter has become now. Below is the University each participant will be attending and what they will be studying!
Evan C.
Evan will be attending the University of South Carolina to study Mechanical Engineering.
Julian M.
Julian will be attending Winthrop University to study Mathematics.
Mercy S.
Mercy will be attending Anderson University and Clemson University to study Nursing.
Johnny S.
Johnny will be attending Clemson University to study Computer Science.
Westin W.
Westin will be attending Clemson University to study Business.
We wish all of our graduating ACE level participants good luck in college and in all future endeavors!
First Tee returns to Clemson University this year for its 4th annual National Championship. This year’s field includes 24 boys and 24 girls from First Tee chapters across the country to experience what golf looks like at the next level.
In addition to showcasing their skills and perseverance on the course, players will also attend a golf careers panel and a keynote address from First Tee alumnus Gavin Parker.
This year’s tournament will be streamed on Gamecast, and you can follow scoring on Golf Genius.
Before we head to Clemson, we caught up with our past winners to see what they’re up to.
Ashton Harper First Tee — Roanoke Valley
Ashton won the inaugural First Tee National Championship at Clemson in 2021 and is now a member of the golf team at Virginia Tech, where he is majoring in business. Ashton said his experience with First Tee taught him valuable lessons in perseverance. “Golf is not a game of perfect, and there will always be ups and downs when playing this game, but they are magnified in tournaments due to the high stakes. I was able to use perseverance to fight these ups and downs,” he said.
Ashton aims to become an All-ACC player by the end of his tenure at Virginia Tech before going on to play professionally.
Symran Shah First Tee — Greater Dallas
Like Ashton, Symran won the First Tee National Championship at Clemson in 2021 and now plays golf at Virginia Tech. She studies business and plans to have a career in healthcare administration.
Hannah Lydic First Tee — Delaware
Hannah won the 2022 First Tee National Championship held at Notre Dame and is now a member of the golf team at the University of Richmond, majoring in business administration with a concentration in marketing. Her experience in the First Tee National Championship taught her patience and perseverance in both herself and her game, she said.
As a Spider, she’s won awards for golf and academics. “What’s cool about the game of golf is that if you play calm and treat your playing partners with kindness, you will ultimately have a better experience on the course which will allow you to play at a higher level,” she said. Because of her experience with First Tee coaches, she fell in love with golf and now has the goal to become a collegiate golf coach.
Hunter Swanson First Tee — Green Valley Ranch
Hunter won the First Tee National Championship at Notre Dame in 2022 and is now a business student and member of the golf team at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Hunter lost to Ashton in a playoff at the 2021 First Tee National Championship, which inspired him to have the perseverance to come back and win at Notre Dame and taught him how to be more comfortable in high stress situations, he said.
As a college golfer, Hunter said the most important lesson he learned from First Tee is confidence. “I find I play more relaxed and have a better game when I practice enough to believe in my abilities,” he said. Since winning the First Tee National Championship, Hunter has made the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, been a Pac-12 Men’s Golfer of the Week and the Nevada State Amateur runner up.
MeganMeng First Tee — Greater Trenton
Megan won the 2023 First Tee National Championship at Stanford and is preparing to begin her college golf career at Northwestern, where she’ll study economics. Her experience playing in the First Tee National Championship challenged her to be hardworking and patient. She said she continues to use other First Tee lessons. “I find that it is important to always apply respect, sportsmanship and courtesy to those you are playing with,” said Megan, who also won the 2022 PURE Insurance Championship.
Recently, Megan was a member of Team USA at the 2023 Junior Solheim Cup and a 2023 Rolex Scholastic Junior All-American. She’s currently in the Top 10 of the AJGA Rankings and plans to pursue professional golf.
Cooper Groshart First Tee — Central Coast
Cooper won the 2023 First Tee National Championship at Stanford and now attends California State East Bay, as a business administration major and a member of the golf team. Confidence is a First Tee lesson that Cooper keeps with him today while playing competitive golf. His experience in the First Tee National Championship was inspiring, as he saw so many people from different places share the same drive to compete and succeed in golf, he said.
Cooper played in the 2023 U.S. Junior Amateur in Charleston. As a freshman, he competed in 12 tournaments with his college team and has been on the dean’s list both semesters. He said his goal is to continue to improve as a player and a person.
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – (May 14, 2024) – Four years ago, President George W. Bush had a big surprise for seven exemplary First Tee participants. First Tee’s honorary chair told the teens they were selected as inaugural members of the First Tee College Scholarship Program. Now the organization is thrilled to celebrate their graduation.
“Congratulations to the first graduating class of First Tee College Scholarship Program,” said First Tee CEO Greg McLaughlin. “We are very proud of your hard work and commitment, and we look forward to watching you move into the next stages of your journey. First Tee is proud to have played a role in your development.”
“First Tee is family,” said Ricky Lam, a First Tee Scholar who is graduating from Harvard University and pursuing a career in insurance. “Ultimately First Tee is a place where you have such a strong support system to be able to pursue your passions, ask for help, expand your horizons and network so you can be the person you strive to be.”
The First Tee College Scholarship Program is a need- and merit-based scholarship program through which Scholars receive financial support and access to a wide range of professional development opportunities. Each Scholar is paired with an adult mentor to ensure they are equipped with the tools they need to be successful in college and beyond.
“The First Tee College Scholarship Program really helped me find connections, especially with my mentor,” said Malisone Chanthanpanya, now a graduate student and member of the golf team at Texas Wesleyan University. Mali is one of three Scholars who graduated early to bring the total number of graduated First Tee Scholars to 10. “She was a great resource who I could talk to about not just college and my career but about life. I got to meet a lot of people through the scholarship program.”
The First Tee College Scholarship Program was launched in 2020, and it recognizes First Tee participants who have shown dedication to academics, community service and their First Tee chapters. It has since grown to include 70 Scholars, with the 2024 class slated to be announced next month.
Meet the graduates:
Luke Boldt First Tee – Coastal Carolina / East Carolina University He has accepted a position as a medical missionary for two years and plans to apply to medical school.
Malisone Chanthanpanya First Tee – Fort Worth / Texas Wesleyan University She’s in graduate school and prepping for LPGA Q-school in the fall.
Jessica Jiao First Tee – Metropolitan New York / Georgetown University She has accepted a position with BNP Paribas Bank in its equity capital markets department in New York.
Ricky Lam First Tee–Tri-Valley / Harvard University He has accepted a position with Sompo as a commercial underwriter.
Kelly Low First Tee – Fort Worth / University of Texas at Dallas She has accepted an offer with Amazon Web Services as an associate solutions architect in Austin.
Nicole Monsalve First Tee – Miami / Duke University She has accepted a position with the NFL in its two-year rotation program in New York.
Sara Rintoul First Tee – Central Florida / University of Florida She has accepted an offer at Proctor & Gamble as a brand manager in Boston.
Remi Shendell First Tee – Metropolitan New York / Emory University She is graduating with a double-major in biology and political science.
Borina Sutiko First Tee – Silicon Valley / Santa Clara University She hopes to attend Cal Berkely this fall to earn her master’s in information systems.
Denise Wei First Tee – San Francisco/ University of California, Irvine She has accepted an offer with PwC in its audit division.
On Tuesday April 16th, First Tee — Upstate South Carolina hosted The Cherokee County Schools Team Challenge at Cherokee National Country Club. In this challenge, elementary schools in Cherokee County select two 4th grade students and two 5th grade students to team up and represent their school. The 4 students as a team completed in numerous golf and life skill activities and had a running tally of points throughout the morning.
Corinth Elementary Wins For The Third Time! Congratulations to Corinth for their back-to-back victory and third overall! It was an exciting day filled with lots of great golf swings, teamwork, sportsmanship and smiles!
Another awesome part of this great day out in Cherokee County was having Access Carolina there to capture it all. Click the buttons below to view the clips from Access Carolina!
We want to start by sending a huge First Tee — Upstate South Carolina congratulations to Anna Morgan of the Furman Women’s Golf Team on again qualifying to compete in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur!
Brief Bio on Anna
Fifth Year Senior on the Furman Women’s Golf Team
2023 SoCon Female Athlete of the Year
2023 SoCon Player of the Year
3rd ranked female golfer in South Carolina coming out of High School at Spartanburg High.
The success of Anna has really resonated with our chapter and another awesome part of this story is that Anna is a First Tee Alum from here in the Upstate. Her hometown is Spartanburg, SC and she was involved with the Spartanburg chapter before the merge took place which inevitably created First Tee Upstate — South Carolina. At the time, one of the largest program locations for the Spartanburg chapter was The Creek Golf Club and this is where Anna took classes and trained out of! A quote from Anna’s mother: “The First Tee was a huge part of Anna’s beginning in golf and is a big part of who she is today.” As a participant, Anna also had the opportunity to accompany First Tee staff to Augusta to check out the Masters. Seeing that magical place through the eyes of a little girl was pretty cool, but years later that little girl was able to play the course and compete in The Augusta National Women’s Amateur!
With Spring registration officially closed and classes all underway we wanted to give our First Tee — Upstate South Carolina community an idea of the programming numbers and the amount of kids we reach across the Upstate!
First off, lets take a look back at another record breaking year in 2023. The official number of participants that went though our program was 801! This goes down in our history books as another record broken for our chapter and we are so thankful for each and every participant! Within this number, we also reached a new personal best percentage of girls in our program. We had a goal to reach 40% of girls in our program and that target was met. If your family has a girl in our programming be sure they are registered for our LPGA/USGA Girls Golf program to receive invitations and emails for our Girls Only events!
Now into this year! Spring programming is underway and with the pace we are on, we are hoping to continue breaking records for our chapter. In just spring programming alone, we currently have 340 participants across the Upstate attending classes at local golf courses. Another exciting opportunity that is in the early stages, which will continue to grow in popularity is our classes that are hosted at Top Golf in Greenville. Over the Winter First Tee National and TopGolf agreed to a partnership and we jumped right in to host classes at this awesome facility. If you haven’t experienced TopGolf go check it out!
Lastly, we are continuing to build on our expansion into new counties across the upstate. If you missed it, we actually have an article specifically focused on our recent expansions. However, we wanted to touch on the success we have had at Cross Creek Plantation down in Oconee County. First Tee — Upstate South Carolina Board Member and Head Professional Steve Goforth welcomed our programming at the golf course and it continues to grow under Lead Coach Davis Sires! Recently, we unveiled our new program location sign and cannot wait to see how the county continues to utilize our programming!
Operation 36 is a developmental golf program designed to guide a beginner from playing their first round, to shooting par or better for 9 holes. The way I like to explain it is learning golf from the green backwards instead of from the tee box forward. When you starting using the program, you begin from 25 yards and the goal is to shoot 36 from that yardage over 9 holes (4 shots per hole). If you pass you move back to 50 yards, then 100 yards, and so on. Then if you make it all the way back to the tee box and shoot 36 then you are able to shoot par in golf.
However, Operation 36 is way more than playing and going through the divisions. The mobile app has many different features to assist you as you train in golf and they have many resources to help you along the way. You can also earn points within the app and we have gotten creative in 2024 within our First Tee Community.
New Monthly Challenges
Throughout the entire month of February and for the following months, we host what we call Monthly Challenges. In these challenges, you get points for logging practice time, rounds, or even watching golf on TV. The points are logged in the mobile app and tallied on a leaderboard, with the Top 3 point-getters receiving gift cards to our very own online store front. Check out our online storefront on the “Store” tab on our website!
The February challenge has concluded and the March challenge is under way and we have nearly doubled the participation in the first seven days of the new challenge. One of the best parts of our partnership with Operation 36 is seeing the success stories in this great program. Our February monthly challenge winner, who is a participant of ours and was a part of our 2024 Winter Workshop had an awesome story to tell while playing and logging his points. During the month he traveled out to Pinehurst to play rounds of golf and was able to log all of his practice and play. Before his trip in our Winter Workshop session, we had an activity focused on goal setting using S.M.A.R.T goals. His next goal in golf was to make a birdie and he used that in his activity. Within the next week, he achieved his goal and made a birdie out at Pinehurst on a par 3 and it all culminated with him winning the monthly challenge!
We love hearing about these success stories within the Operation 36 program and hope this software is increasingly used by the public and especially used by our First Tee participants!
Click the button below to register for Operation 36 within our First Tee — Upstate South Carolina community and you will receive emails about the challenges, play-days upcoming, and other news within the program! Registration is free!
Written by Zach Pretzer, Tournament Director and Grace Morgan, Program and Development Coordinator
Over the past weekend, First Tee — Upstate South Carolina hosted an LPGA/USGA Girls Golf Clinic in honor of Renee Powell! Grace Morgan, our Program and Development Coordinator, did an amazing job orchestrating the event and we had loads of help from other staff members, coaches, and volunteers from Beauty Marks 4 Girls.
The event took place last Saturday, February 24th from 11am-2pm at Greer Golf Course. We partnered with another local Non-Profit, Beauty Marks 4 Girls, which mentors girls with incarcerated mothers/parents. Between their participants and inviting girls of all skill levels and backgrounds from the Upstate South Carolina area, we had 26 girls in attendance! Again, we cannot thank our coaches and volunteers enough. Due to their help, the event had a 1:3 ratio of coach to participant. This 1:3 ratio allowed the girls to receive one on one instruction throughout the clinic.
The event was a station based clinic with four stations; an agility & physical education station with an obstacle course, full swing driver station on the driving range, pitching & chipping station on the driving range and lastly a Renee Powell station. The Renee Powell station included signage we had made to discuss the history and impact of Renee Powell as well as some important key words that are meaningful to our chapter and Girls Golf. All of the participants were very engaged in our Renee Powell station, asking questions about her life and legacy as well as sharing how her story relates to their lives. It was incredible to see girls of such varying ages enjoy and benefit from this event. After the clinic, we hired a local black-owned food truck to serve all of the girls lunch which they enjoyed as well!
Overall, this event was very impactful to not only the 26 girls who attended, but to all others involved with the clinic as well!
The Kinzer family has been around golf their entire lives and this love for the game has translated to our chapter here at First Tee — Upstate South Carolina.
Al Kinzer raised Derek Kinzer our Program Director to have a passion for the game of golf and it led Derek to becoming a PGA Member throughout his early years in the golf business. I can story tell as much as I want, but nothing will top the story Al and Derek are able to tell. On the day before Derek’s wedding, Derek was out at Thrornblade Club and he hit a hole in one on Hole 17. As Derek’s celebration subsided, his Dad stepped onto the tee box, being that he was second to hit, and i’ll let you guess what happened next. Al followed up Dereks shot with a hole in one of his own. This feat is said to be 1 and 159 million probability.
Al and Derek have seen it all when it comes to golf and throughout Dereks career path and he grew a deep connection with the fantastic organization, The First Tee. Derek has been the Program Director here at our chapter for close to 4 years and it was awesome for Derek to see his knowledge of the golf business and family tree come together in Greenville, SC.
Now the newest generation of the Kinzer Family is Coach Star. Star is Derek’s daughter and is a lead coach for our chapter. She has been a huge help when it came to our girls golf program and her classes assisted the chapter in growing the number of girls in our programming. With her girls only classes at the Preserve at Verdae and other LPGA/USGA Girls Golf programs within our chapter, the percentage of girls climbed to just over 40%, in terms of all participants in our chapter! I’ll let you guess who her assistant coach is. Of course, her Grandpa Al Kinzer.
We could not be more thankful for what these three individuals have done for our chapter and for the Upstate as a whole. It is incredible that 3 generations of family members can drive so much success and it is on full display here at First Tee — Upstate South Carolina!
The 3 Generations
Coach Al Kinzer
Age 82, certified First Tee coach since 2020
Has been a First Tee Coach and Volunteer for First Tee Programs at The Preserve at Verdae Golf Course for 3 years.
Coach Al Kinzer is the retired President of BMW Manufacturing. In his role at BMW he has always encouraged associates to give back to the community and that message resonated in and through the Kinzer Family.
Derek Kinzer, Program Director, PGA
Age 56, certified First Tee coach since 2003.
Coach Derek is a PGA Member and was a First Tee Coach for First Tee Columbus, and First Tee Central Ohio.
Coach Derek Kinzer has been the Program Director for the First Tee Upstate South Carolina for over 3.5 years.
Coach Star Kinzer
Age 23, certified First Tee coach since 2021.
Coach Star is the Lead Coach for the Girls Only First Tee Program at The Preserve at Verdae.
Coach Star is an Alumni of the First Tee Central Ohio Program and played high school golf in Dublin, OH.
Click on the button below to register for classes. Stars Girls Only class is listed and your child could experience the Kinzer Generations as well!
February is Black History Month, an important time to recognize the contributions and remember the hardships endured by generations of African Americans. Appreciating diversity and what makes us each unique remains an integral part of First Tee’s DNA year-round.
“When you bring together people with different perspectives and different experiences, the whole becomes stronger than the sum of its parts,” said Pepper Peete, whose career in golf began more than two decades ago when she established the men’s team at Edward Waters College, an HBCU in Jacksonville, Florida. Peete now helps lead culture and inclusion efforts at First Tee headquarters.
Access for All
First Tee has always been committed to reaching kids from all backgrounds and making sure they feel included in our programming. At First Tee we commit to:
Appreciating what makes us different.
Providing everyone with what they need to succeed, knowing that our needs and challenges may differ.
Creating space that makes every individual feel like they belong and can see themselves reflected.
Collaborating with others – including those who are different from you – is a Key Commitment at First Tee, and it means showing respect, kindness and care for everyone. Regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation or lived experience, we’re all unique.
Here are some ways kids can get more comfortable learning about and from others.
A-L-R is a tool for learning about others
First Tee coaches introduce the concept of appreciating diversity by explaining that people differ in many ways and are similar in other ways, and we all have strengths and weaknesses. It is important for kids and teens to understand, accept and appreciate their own strengths and weaknesses, but it is equally important they do the same with others.
Engaging others in conversation doesn’t always come naturally to children, but it can be one of the best ways to form meaningful connections across perceived barriers. A-L-R is a strategy we teach at First Tee.
Ask questions: Invite your child to ask questions to discover more about a person’s background and past experiences, which might provide insight into who they are today and the commonalities they share.
Listen to understand: Introduce active listening by encouraging your child to focus on what others are saying rather than thinking about what to say next.
Reflect and respond: Invite your child to show how they were listening by responding with a thoughtful question or sharing your own thoughts or feelings on the topic at hand.
Through this exercise, kids might learn they share common interests with someone who looks or sounds different to them.
Don’t forget that in addition to learning about others, preteens are often grappling with and discovering their own identities. If your family positions diversity as an asset, your child might feel more comfortable being themself.
Exposing your child to food, music or books from other cultures can help them see the commonalities we share and appreciate that our differences make the world a richer place. You can also discuss the diversity that exists within your own family or community to show that diversity is everywhere, including the golf space.
“Golf has given me an opportunity to go places I never would have been able to go and meet people I never would have been able to meet,” said Peete, who was married to Calvin Peete, one of the most successful Black professional golfers in history. “I think golf can open up unexpected doors.”
A lifelong golfer and mother to two daughters who played golf at HBCUs, Peete has seen the sport become more accessible, especially to women, and she believes the golf course is a perfect place to break down barriers. “You get to meet so many different people through golf,” Peete said.
Our chapter has an amazing example of lineage within our programming and we figured it was time for it to be told. This involves three of our beloved lead coaches: Floyd Hendricks, Steve Smith, and Laura Maurer.
Pulled from the archives of Coach Floyd’s class from 12 years ago, we have a memory from a student. “My favorite memory of Coach Floyd is when during First Tee class Coach Floyd would announce our full name and hometown as we were teeing off, just like the pros. He always makes people and kids feel so important.”
The student’s memory is from Laura Maurer; she had Coach Floyd as a lead coach roughly 12 years ago. Laura is a Fist Tee Coach, Els for Autism #GameOn Coach, and Head Coach of the 2022 & 2023 State Champion Dorman High School Ladies Golf Team. Laura has coached at Three Pines Country Club and Willow Creek Golf Club, sharing the practice facilities with another lead coach of ours, Steve Smith! We are so thankful for all three coaches as well as our other amazing coaches across the Upstate.
Floyd has been a coach for First Tee for 17 years, and believe it or not, Laura was introduced to First Tee when she was younger when she had Coach Floyd for her First Tee class.
However, the lineage doesn’t stop there, our coaches have continued to impact the lives of current participants and we hope that this story of lineage can be told again in the future of our ever growing chapter! Check out the quotes below from a participant and his family!
Quote from First Tee Participant Colten’s mother, Melissa
Colten has had three wonderful coaches thus far in First Tee. Coach Laura, Coach Floyd and Coach Steve. Coach Laura had Colten come and play golf with some of her #GameON participants. This made Colten feel really special about his golf game and it was very rewarding for me to see him be somewhat of a role model for her students. Coach Floyd and Coach Steve were perfect for him to get him to really want to practice and improve his golf skills.
Coach Floyd, Coach Laura, and Coach Steve are exactly who we need in the Upstate to build “Game Changers” for First Tee.
Carter Bonas has already broken through in the business world, and he’s just 12. His love of golf helped inspire his company, Spectrum Golf.
The golf brand got its name because Carter is on the autism spectrum. The company was created to address an issue he faced, turning a challenge into an opportunity.
“Me and my mom were spending lots of money on clothes that were supposed to be comfortable but weren’t because I have skin sensitivity,” explained the First Tee – Florida Gold Coast participant.
“I started Spectrum Golf because I wanted other people to be comfortable too.”
The brand sells golf attire and accessories, which have been displayed at the PGA Show in Orlando, an industry standard event. Carter has been interviewed by Golf Channel, Golf Digest and more about his company.
It’s impossible for Carter to choose a favorite memory from his time as a golfer. “They’re all super amazing,” Carter said.
He’s walked the course with Ernie Els at the Chubb Classic in Naples, Florida, chipped with PGA Champions Tour player Alex Cejka and even met basketball star Steph Curry. Last year Curry was honored as Sports Illustrated’s Sports Person of the Year, while Carter was named Sports Kid of the Year.
Carter has big goals for his company, ultimately aiming to own a retail store and collaborate with other major brands. Playing on the PGA TOUR isn’t out of the question either, he said.
Carter loves the sport because he’s able to play on a team while still controlling the outcome of his round – whether good or bad. He also loves spending time in nature, he said.
Carter began playing golf after struggling to find another sport that fit.
During Autism Awareness Month, his message to others on the spectrum: “If you’re considering golf it takes lots of patience and practice, and you always need to stay positive,” he said.
Carter and his family have faced their own set of challenges when it comes to managing a new business. They had to table Spectrum Vitamin Water due to a manufacturing issue. “Carter only wants to sell products he loves,” said his mother, Dr. Thelma Tennie. But after finding a new producer, the vitamin water could be back on the market this year.
Seeing his mom – who owns a private therapy practice – helped inspire Carter to become an entrepreneur, he explained. And he’s also passionate about giving back. He recently launched a nonprofit, and he serves as a golf coach and motivational speaker for schools and events.
Like First Tee, Carter is dedicated to growing the sport of golf and showing that anyone can play. Carter and his mom were drawn to First Tee’s values, and he’s been participating with the Florida Gold Coast chapter in Fort Lauderdale for about a year.
