The First Tee

The First Tee Program is a World Golf Foundation initiative to impact the lives of young people of all backgrounds by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf.

The First Tee of Pine Mountain, based at the Wasioto Winds Golf Course in Bell County, was started in 2003 and has had thousands of youth participate in the program.

Participants focus on nine core components: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment. An instructional component on substance abuse, developed by The First Tee Pine Mountain, has been adopted on the national level.

Implemented in 1997, The First Tee program offers golf lessons to kids who otherwise can’t afford to get involved in the sport. The young golfers also learn good sportsmanship, strong work ethic, good moral values, as well as the dangers of drugs.

Through The First Tee Life Skills Experience, participants learn valuable lessons about the importance of maintaining a positive attitude; how to make decisions by thinking about the possible consequences and how to define and set goals from the golf course to everyday life.

I Am One

This brief video was created by Harold “Buster” Southard and Jason Creech as part of UNITE Bell County’s Drug-Free Communities Program. The original idea came from Rep Your Voice in Nashville, Tenn. Kaylee and Donnie Caldwell attended the workshop at CADCA and came back with a plan to create their own “I Am One” video. This video was selected to be shown during The First Tee home office’s 2011 Network Meeting in San Antonio, Texas,