Here at First Tee — Upstate South Carolina we are always looking for ways to innovate our programming and a special partnership has allowed us to do that. Recently First Tee expanded on its partnership with Top Golf around the United States allowing chapters around the country to host programming at TopGolf sites. Spring of 2023 was the first full session of programming out at TopGolf in Greenville and it has already grown in popularity.
This partnership was especially important to us due to the decline of golf course availability in the Greenville area. This year Legacy Pines Golf Club, one of our largest programming locations, closed down leaving not much accessability in Mauldin, SC. If you are in the Greenville area or anywhere across the Upstate, join us for a class at Top Golf. Use this link to filter by location and register for programming: Click Here
At Top Golf classes we have a ton of fun using the TopTracer technology to learn how the golf ball flys and use the included virtual games to grow our golf game, have friendly competition, and learn important life skills that the First Tee teaches.
First Tee — Upstate South Carolina hosted the Spartanburg Junior County Amateur Championships on Wednesday and Thursday June 26th-27th and what an awesome tournament it was. We again want to thank everyone who came out to Woodfin Ridge. The weather difference between Round 1 and Round 2 was crazy, with the hottest day on record this year in the Upstate for Round 1 and clouds with rain showers for Round 2. Not to mention a 20 degree difference in temperature!
Spartanburg Junior County Amateur Boy’s Champion: AK Milner 150 (+6)
The boys 13-18 division was an all out battle this year with a new era of junior golfers. The division this year however was highlighted by AK, as he becomes the youngest champion in tournament history. He just turned 13 in February! We also have a great story to tell. His father Kyle Milner, who is a great amateur golfer himself, actually withdrew from a golf tournament to make sure he was there for AK’s winning moment. While talking to Kyle and watching AK putt on the 18th green, Kyle says “watching this moment was far too important than any other golf tournament, AK doesn’t even know I am here yet.” This was then followed up by AK seeing his dad on the patio and sharing a memory that will live on forever. Congratulations again to AK!
Spartanburg Junior County Amateur Girl’s Champion: Poppy Dawson 143 (-1)
Poppy closed out a great two days of golf and has a great story to tell on the Girls side of the championship. Poppy is now a back to back champion winning in 2023 and 2024. However, this year she did it playing along side her younger sister who also won her division! Congratulations again to Poppy!
Spartanburg Boys 10-12 Division Champion: Will Miller 151 (+7)
Spartanburg Girls 10-12 Division Champion Emma Bulman 158 (+14)
First off, we want to say congratulations to Julia C, an ACE Level Participant here at First Tee — Upstate South Carolina. She was recently accepted into the LPGA Foundation Tennessee Leadership Academy. She will be traveling to Nashville, Tennessee, June 18th and 19th, and we wanted to celebrate her accomplishment and give some insight into what the academy has to offer. We also interviewed Julia and found out what she is looking to learn and what she is most excited for during this experience.
About the LPGA Leadership Academy
In 2015, the LPGA Foundation began a new and exciting journey, as they introduced a two-day LPGA Leadership Academy to keep teenage girls engaged in golf and prepare them for leadership opportunities. Group exercises, expert led discussions, journaling and interaction with female executives and mentors help girls discover their unique strengths and leadership style. They use the game of golf as a platform and learning tool to:
– Teach girls how to become better decision makers
– Overcome and let go of setbacks
– Take calculated risks and “Lean In”
– Develop skills to accomplish specific goals
– Play their own game and find their own voice
Interview Session with Julia
Introduce yourself: Name, age, how long have you been playing golf!
“My name is Julia and I am 16 years old. I have been playing golf for four years”
What are you the most excited for about this opportunity?
“I am most excited to meet new girls who also love the game of golf and be part of a LPGA/USGA Girls Golf experience”
What are you hoping to learn/accomplish?
“I am hoping to learn more leadership skills and tips to improve my golf score”
What does this opportunity mean to you?
“I am excited to travel and experience a national opportunity for the first time. I am very thankful to be included in this leadership academy”
We again want to say congratulations to Julia, wish her safe travels, and to have a ton of fun in Nashville!
With graduation in the books, many kids and teens are looking ahead to the future. But we asked First Tee alumni to look back and consider the advice they’d share with their 18-year-old self.
David Singh First Tee – Tampa Bay Recently earned his Master in Healthcare Administration at the University of Pittsburgh
“Life is not always gonna stick to the script you’ve got in your head. Sometimes, it’ll throw you curveballs you never saw coming. Roll with the punches, stay flexible, and remember, there’s always a silver lining in every setback. Keep your chin up, ’cause even when things don’t go as planned, there’s still a world of amazing possibilities out there waiting for you.”
Savannah Mansueti First Tee – Florida Gold Coast Manager of operations at First Tee – Florida Gold Coast
“If I could advise my 18-year-old self, I’d emphasize embracing failure as a key part of learning and growth, seeing setbacks as opportunities to refine skills. I’d also stress the importance of building strong relationships with family, friends, mentors and colleagues for support and guidance. Lastly, I’d recommend prioritizing financial literacy early on, mastering budgeting, saving and investing for long-term stability and success.”
Haili Moore First Tee – Greater Dallas Student at Texas Christian University and entry-level staff accountant
“Do not allow yourself to settle in relationships, careers, friendships, education, etc. You are worth what you allow to infiltrate your time, peace and space. The thing is though, is that you are worth more than you’ll ever know.”
Jamie Rush First Tee – Pittsburgh Methodist University marketing student with a concentration in professional golf management
“My advice would be to live in the moment. We are always wishing for the next big moment and forget to treasure the times that we are currently in. I’m still trying to learn this lesson today. Enjoy every aspect of the here and now, slow down and don’t wish your life away.”
Spencer McIntosh First Tee – Tampa Bay Director of business intelligence and analytics at First Tee
“I would encourage my 18-year-old self to be continuously educating yourself whether that be reading more books, taking additional courses or seeking mentorship. I’d also recommend that he build a strong network and surround himself with supportive and knowledgeable people so you can apply those lessons to his passions. Then finally, I’d tell him to pay those gifts forward to the next generation of game changers!”
Srishti Dhurandhar First Tee – Metropolitan New York Business and technology management student and collegiate golfer at NYU
“Some advice for my younger self would be to be less afraid to ask for help and make mistakes. I learned the most when things didn’t go according to plan and wish I had spent less time worrying about doing everything perfectly because everything will work out in the end as long as you surround yourself with people you can lean on. “
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!
