Click-clack, click-clack. Her clubs clink as she walks. Thump. Her bag hits the ground.

Swoosh, clack!

She holds her breath, peering at the green rolling hills and rays of afternoon sunlight. In the distance, a white speck pierces through the sky and drops quickly with a soft thud. Carrying her clubs, she walks slowly across the fairway toward the green.

“Yeah I’m good,” proclaims Britney Campbell.

But “good” may be an understatement for this seasoned golfer. Last year, she shot the longest drive of any female in her competition.

 Britney is not in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), nor is she competing in an NCAA tournament. She is a middle-school student whose golf interest started four years ago when she was nine years old and joined The First Tee of Montgomery County.

After learning about the program through the Boys and Girls Club, Britney started taking free lessons at Sligo Creek Golf Course in Silver Spring, Md. She takes lessons twice a week during the spring, summer and fall seasons, and she attends camps during her winter vacations from school.

Britney’s love of sports made her a great candidate for the program, and her initial interest in golf turned into a passion and career goal.

“I’m trying to get into college on a scholarship,” she says. “But I still play to have fun…that’s my goal.”

The First Tee of Montgomery County is part of an international program that was created in 1997 to help children from ages 8 to18 learn the physical and mental dimensions of a sport that has not traditionally been available to diverse groups of young people. Golf is typically an expensive sport that requires access to a club. These barriers are difficult for those who live in the inner city or cannot afford to keep up with the sport.

 Created by the World Golf Foundation and endorsed by the PGA and LPGA, the program aims to foster moral principles among students by way of golf instruction. The First Tee was started at East Lake golf course near Atlanta, Ga. It now has 274 national and five international golf-learning facilities. The growth of facilities has allowed The First Tee to reach more than 675,000 students.

 “The First Tee of Montgomery County reaches more and more children every season,” said Laura Sildon, Executive Director of the Montgomery County chapter. “Our goal is to expand the program as much as we can among students and community members.”

 Free to all participants, The First Tee of Montgomery County strives to give children from diverse backgrounds the chance to learn the game of golf as well as the values that may help them in their daily lives. The program emphasizes the importance of nine “life skills.” Each of these skills is addressed in the lessons at the learning facilities:
honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment. 

A typical day at one of The First Tee facilities might include a life skills lesson, calisthenics and then a golf lesson. Older players get the opportunity to shoot some holes. As golfers progress through the program they move to higher skills levels. The lowest level is par, followed by birdie, eagle and ace. These levels represent strokes in the game, with ace being the least number of strokes needed to make a hole. Par is the amount of strokes given for a hole, birdie is one under par, eagle is two under par and an ace is hole in one.

PGA-certified coaches teach the young golfers the essentials of the game, while volunteer assistants help the young athletes develop their skills.

 As golfers improve, they partner with a mentor, who personally advises them and guides their lessons. Moreover, mentors are reliable adult figures on whom students can depend. Britney’s mentor is former golfer Felicia Wilson, who picks Britney up and brings her to the golf course. She also improves Britney’s swing and corrects her mistakes. Right now, Britney is trying to improve her putting. 

  Students of The First Tee of Montgomery County play at one of four facilities: Olney Golf Park, Montgomery Village, Laytonsville Club and Sligo Creek Club. Olney only teaches girls and Montgomery Village teaches high school level golfers. Each course has one or two paid instructors, various volunteers, and about 40-60 golfers.

 “We really appreciate being able to use these courses to teach kids the game of golf. Having four courses helps us to involve more kids in the program,” says Sildon.

 The Montgomery County chapter of The First Tee currently has partnerships with various organizations to fund and recruit students for the program. Sildon hopes to increase the number of corporate partners and raise money for the programs. 

 “We have been able to do so much through donations and partnerships. We hope that more organizations will see the value in The First Tee and help us continue to grow.”

 The First Tee National School Program is a new initiative that helps to implement golf as a regular sport in physical education classes. The First Tee hopes to expand this to more than 140 communities by the year 2010.

 An even greater opportunity for high-school-aged golfers is the Scholars Program, which teams with universities to recognize academic excellence and rewards participants with scholarships.

Britney Campbell’s mother, Sikenah Holden,  agrees that The First Tee can change the lives of students. “The program gives a chance to a lot of kids that normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to experience golf. You never know, it could be something that they are really good at. There are some really good kids that have earned scholarships. They encourage me to put Britney in a high school that has a golf team. They have plans for her.”

With the scholarship opportunities available to young golfers, Britney has a great chance of reaching her goals. Holden is confident that her daughter will have a scholarship in her name.

 “I don’t know how she does it,” she said. “It takes discipline, especially to be in school.”
Britney loves playing on the course and she recognizes that she needs to keep up with her schoolwork to further pursue golf.

 “It would be nice to be a professional golfer,” she admits. “I’d like to help out with The First Tee too.”

 For more information on The First Tee of Montgomery County and how you can get involved, please visit www.thefirstteeofmontgomerycountymaryland.org or call Laura Sildon at 240-447-4646.

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