Young Bryant golfers gain instruction from PGA’s Duke

A native of Hope, Ark., graduate of Henderson State and now member of Professional Golfer Association, Ken Duke held a clinic for upstart golfers in Little Rock. The event was held at The First Tee of Central Arkansas (TFTCA) on Sept. 16. Duke was in town for his own golf tournament in his hometown of Arkadelphia and invited the First Tee Ambassadors to be part of the weekend. Although, the question and answer session was much longer than learning time on the driving range due to the rain, the ambassadors thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

Bryant ambassadors chosen were Tanner Caton, Grant Ferguson, Nick Canale, Brendon Morton, Sophia Canale, and Drew Castleberry. Their ages range from third to seventh grade.[more]

This year TFTCA started an Ambassador Program to identify a group of young golfers to be the face of The First Tee at special events and to start preparing them for future leadership roles. They were chosen through an application process which also required high marks at school as well as active participation at The First Tee. There are 34 Ambassadors this year. Six of those attend Bryant schools.

TFTCA currently has over 700 young members. They have two walking courses; the Honors 9-hole par-3, and the Chairman's 9-hole par 36. They also have the largest driving range in the area. Adults also use the driving range and play the courses regularly.

In addition to the sport of golf, The First Tee, Life Skills classes are available in a block style all year. Life Skills classes work to instill 9 core values; respect, courtesy, responsibility, honesty, sportsmanship, confidence, judgment, perseverance, & integrity, as well as developing interpersonal skills, self-management, goal setting and resilience skills. The classes are named Little Linksters, Target, Player, Par, Birdie, Eagle and Ace. The golfers must pass a golf skills as well as life skills portions of a test to move to the next class.

For more information, visit thefirstteelittlerock.org

Thanks to Jodie Canale for the First Tee update.