The Keepers dedicated our 9th Annual First Tee Mentoring Outing at Woodmont Country Club to the memory of our good friend Arthur Blitz. Arthur was a huge advocate of this event every year and we will recall his smiling face and infectious laugh each year we host this wonderful event.
Arthur Blitz had a special connection with these kids
The First Tee of Greater Washington D.C. brought 31 awesome kids to participate in an afternoon of pure golf fun. We had 19 volunteers from our club along with capable professional golf staff as our guides doing golf clinics, a picnic lunch, and a couple of hours of course time with the kids.
These kids come every type of background you can imagine and they have gleaned from their First Tee experiences self-confidence, poise, and grace as well as being introduced to the game of golf. It is a wonder to witness the etiquette, course awareness, and basic skills of these 7 to 17 year-olds who attend this event each year.
Well over 50 kids, volunteers, and staff make orchestrating this shot no small feat
Our volunteers provide the smiles, reassurance, and support to help these kids understand how much this game has to offer.
The volunteers donated their time and their hugs to make it a special day
It takes the help of the First Tee of Greater Washington and supportive parents to pull this off each year.
Roger and Katie, administrators from the First Tee Program
Some of the parents of these great kids mugging with Roger
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Sometimes the mentoring is as simple as a smile or an encouraging word…the kids got lots of both.
The event commander Steve with a Grace-ful smile
Moe and Jonathan are old friends by now
Steve shows Carina a version of the modified four-point stance
Larry and Dale with Hannah, Yuna, and Angela on the practice ground
Alex, Steve, Gavin, Caleb, and Gene
Gene and John with Grace, Sabrina, Iris, and Michelle
Chet, Rich, David, Eugene, Salieu, Sam, Konnor, Paul, Steve, and Mika…quite a line-up
Grant, Eddie, Konnor, Malinda, Ricky, and Rick
The mentors share their knowledge and experience of how to work down a handicap
Jackie helps Sophie make some chipping adjustments
Rick and Peter…..proof is in the results
Eddie with Malinda and Yohan talking short game
Jake and Marilyn with Milan and Daniel
MIke and Jackie coaching Carina, Johan, and Avery
Moe, Sol, and Rebecca with Sean, Ryan, and Skyler
Best part is just stepping back and watching these amazing kids do their golf thing.
Rick, Dale, Bonnie, Susan, Larry, and Gary embraced the moment
All the kids went through the rotation of three clinics-range, short game, and putting-led by our professional staff.
The day started with an invigorating stretch with Konnor
There was long game work with Brice and Morgan at the range.
Brice going over fundamentals with the older kids
The youngest at the range with Morgan, Brice, Sol, Jackie, and Ron
Ricky has a strong address position
Jake and Mike worked on greenside short game skills with all the groups.
Jake sporting the classic Jim Colbert bucket hat demonstrates proper grip
The chipping lines under watchful eyes
Caleb gets some demonstration from Rebecca who knows her stuff
Skyler is a veteran of these outings and shows it to Sol
Got to love this pitching set-up from Grace
Malinda, after clean contact, snuggles it close
Clean up on Aisle 4….these kids can do it all
Dave Pelz has nothing on Konnor…his putting school is a full bag of tricks.
Conga Line Putting….working on the lag putts
Guys synchronized rake putting…who would have thought..
Girls were not to be outdone
The clinics worked up an appetite so they were followed by a break for a picnic lunch where we got to just sit and chat…..healthy sandwiches, real chips, fresh fruit, and some chocolate chip cookies for the big kids. We were all single digit eaters.
Sol doing what Sol does best
Caleb, Rich, Chet, Rebecca, Gary, and Paul sharing stories over chocolate chip cookies
Eugene, Yuna, and Jonathan showing their “chip” skills
The girls work on challenging the Guiness Book of Records for aveggie stacking tower
Then it was out to the course to put what they learned to work. It is amazing how these kids handle themselves on the course. Fixing ball marks, raking bunkers, marking their ball properly, and respecting the efforts of their playing partners.
Ricky, Iris, Peter, Gene, Rick, and Gavin on the green
Rich with Caleb and Michelle
Susan and Larry were marveling at the course skills of Yuna, Daniel, Hannah, and Dauda
Gary staging a FootJoy commercial with Eugene and Jonathan
Chet taking a ride with Eugene and David
Ron, Sol, Dad of Milan, Milan, Sean, and Carina
Gary and Steve on the tee with Jonathan, Eugene, Salieu, and Paul
Moe and Alex on the 17th of the North
Sabrina and Grace are all smiles
John watches the elegant ball flight of Sabrina’s lay-up on the 15th
Mika ready to unleash on the 17th tee
Younger brother Alex has a loaded position at the top
Shaking hands with the kids and sending them away with a participation certificate and a few goodies to commemorate the event.
Konnor and Daniel
Sabrina and Konnor
One last bit of business to thank the volunteers, the golf staff, and the organizers for putting this together. And most important, thanking these adorable and talented kids for being part of this memorable day.
One last infectious smile for the memory bank
Special thanks to Connor Farrell, Steve Keller, Moe Dweck, and Roger Brown and the professional golf staff for all the hard work in assembling this event. Thanks to Woodmont Country Club for graciously hosting this and the First Tee of Greater Washington D.C. for hooking us up with these awesome kids.
Respect-Perserverance-Honesty-Integrity-Courtesy-Responsibility-Sportsmanship-Confidence-Judgement
August, 2018
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The kids and parents all had a great time! Thank you so much for all the volunteers and First Tee for hosting this event!