Hailey Creech
Hailey is a well-rounded individual. Along with golf, she has a love for horseback riding and taekwondo. She loves to play with her friends and sing in the school choir. Hailey never gives up, and she is always involved in her class at TopGolf San Antonio. In all of her hobbies, she is confident and always carries a bright smile.
Keep up the great work Hailey and keep exuding our Core Values with everything you do!
Dax Spencer
Dax is a charming young man who loves everything First Tee. Dax has been a participant for a year now and has registered for every session since joining the program. Dax has forged relationships with some of our older participants and has already expressed attributes of the kids who have gone on to be leaders and active participants in our program. Dax shows the sportsmanship needed to have success at a higher level. Dax loves to read especially about history. He also enjoys music and Star Wars.
Congratulations Dax! We are looking forward to seeing you develop in our program!
Jack Polansky
Jack joined the First Tee – Greater San Antonio at 6 years old as a Tiny Tiger. At only 14 years old today, he is one of our youngest Eagle participants. In addition to golf, he plays basketball, runs track, and is involved in PALS at Bradley Middle School. “Jack is a responsible young man whom I can trust to lead a group of younger participants,” said coach Vinny. Jack understands the responsibility it takes to mentor younger participants, but also the maturity to participate in programs with kids much older than him.
We look forward to Jack continuing in our program for the next several years.
Michelle Lee
Michelle has been a participant in our First Tee program for three years. At 11 years old, she has already won over 50 junior golf tournaments around San Antonio and beyond. With her 2 sisters, the Lee girls are some of the most hardworking participants we have. With aspirations to play professional golf, Michelle knows that hard work, integrity, and dedication are keys to success. Michelle enjoys reading and watching golf when not playing and she credits her sisters for her fierce competitiveness.
Congratulations Michelle! Well deserved! Keep up the great work!
Armond Walker
Armond joined our First Tee program almost 4 years ago, and right away, he was a leader. It was evident he is a young man with a bright future ahead of him. He respects those around him and loves helping younger participants with their golf swing. As a leader, the respect he has earned with the younger participants resonates. He has aspirations to play professional golf but would be happy to end up as a successful coach of the game with a dream to one day own his own golf academy. Armond loves fishing and occasional video games in his spare time.
Congratulations Armond! Keep leading the way and using the life skills you’ve learned in the program!
Zayden Broadnax-DeBerry
Zayden has been a participant in our First Tee program for a year. Zayden is a fitting recipient of this award for his determination and all around positive attitude. He has persevered through obstacles many would consider insurmountable for a young boy. Zayden shows up and gives his best at every class. Zayden also enjoys playing soccer, coding and video games and aspires to be a lawyer when he grows up.
Zayden is an amazing young man who deserve this award! He has exemplified what it means to persevere and lives out this Core Value daily! Congratulations Zayden!
Isabella Coronado
Isabella is 10 years old and is already a Par level participant! She shows courtesy to those around her, including her classmates and coaches. She is passionate about fitness and is always first to volunteer a warmup activity. She is warm and friendly and wants to continue working hard on her golf game. She loves doing crafts with her sisters and enjoys making new friends through the First Tee.
Congratulations Isabella in earning our Game Changers Courtesy Award! Keep working hard and leaving positive impressions on those around you.
Riley Lisenbee
Riley is a fun young man to have at the First Tee. His creativity is evident, and it is no surprise that he enjoys playing the tuba and piano. He dreams of becoming a chef or inventor. His honest approach to practice and building relationships with his peers makes him a fitting recipient of this award. Riley has been a participant for 2 years now.
We are so proud of Riley and all the fun he brings out in everyone. He truly embodies this Core Value Award with his interactions with peers and coaches on and off the course!
The First Tee – Greater San Antonio was excited to host our inaugural Game Changer Luncheon, where we celebrated, in 2021, the over 1000 youth that were impacted by our First Tee programs. We awarded the Nine Core Value awards to 9 participants, as well as an overall Participant of the Year award and $2,500 scholarship to Kyle Mahan. Two corporations were also awarded for their Distinguished Service to the First Tee – Greater San Antonio. Mary Carriker, former executive director of the organization, was also awarded the inaugural Mary Carriker Commitment Award. Jeff Traylor, Head Football Coach at UTSA, was our guest speaker, with former FTSA Board Member Richard Oliver as emcee.
At the First Tee – Greater San Antonio, we empower youth to build character and life skills through the game of golf. The Game Changer Luncheon is our way to recognize our standout participants from the past year! These kids have gone above and beyond just being a participant in our program. They have made friends, been a mentor, volunteered, shown passion, and many other character traits that the First Tee instills. Below are the award winners:
Isabella Coronado – Courtesy
Hailey Creech – Confidence
Michelle Lee – Integrity
Zayden BroadnaxDeBerry – perseverance
Armond Walker – Respect
Jack Polansky – Responsibility
Dax Spencer – Sportsmanship
Honesty – Riley Lisenbee
Judgment – Riley Yount
Participant of the Year – Kyle Mahan
We cannot thank our donors and sponsors enough. Their continued support allows us to keep expanding our programs and allowing more kids than ever to learn about golf, but more importantly the character and life skills that First Tee instills in them. Congratulations to all award winners.
40 of our First Tee participants had the opportunity to celebrate with the Valero Texas Open Champion, JJ Spaun! Our players got to experience the emotion of a first time winner of a PGA tour event. There were many smiling faces with the excitement of meeting someone who has fulfilled the dream of working hard through the game of golf. Our game changers are inspired by players like JJ to be the best in a sport that they work so hard at every day. Due to the record setting charitable amount raised by this event, our players also got the pleasure of meeting PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan, and Valero Energy Corporation CEO, Joe Gorder who spoke with them about the importance about golf on and off the course. First Tee – Greater San Antonio is grateful for events like the VTO that creates special moments for our participants.
-Charlotte Davis
This week we’re highlighting one of our favorite father- daughter duos to have on our range! Russell (aka Hunter) is one of our Tiny Tiger lead coaches at the First Tee Learning Center. He leads the class his daughter, Loreley John, is a participant in!
Loreley John – Tiny Tiger participant
How long have you been golfing?
“I don’t know” – for a couple of years.
What are some activities you like to do outside of school? What other sports do you play?
Play with my friends and go to the park. Soccer, basketball, and swimming.
What’s your favorite golf activity?
Hitting balls really high!
What’s your favorite lesson you learned in class this session?
Hitting a ball sitting on your knees and with one leg.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
An architect!
Russell John – Tiny Tiger Lead Coach
Where are you from?
I grew up in a little town in central Missouri called Huntsville.
How did you first get involved with the First Tee?
I started volunteering right before COVID shut everything down and then started volunteering again last year.
What has your First Tee experience been?
I’ve appreciated the professional but still fun nature of the leadership and organization. They really seem to care about the kids and want to help you succeed as a coach.
What is your favorite part about being a lead coach for the Tiny Tigers?
I have seen a lot of young kids who sometimes have very little or no experience with golf having fun for an hour through golf. I love watching the kids get one in the air and look sheepishly back at you like it was an accident or excitedly yell something about their amazing air shot. It’s really fun to the see the growth and excitement every week.
What do you love most about golf?
I would give two key loves of the game. First, I get to spend an extended time in a relatively quiet and peaceful corner of nature. No chaos, no noise, and generally around enjoyable people. Second, the only person you have to blame or congratulate is you. There are bad breaks or unfair bounces, but it is a game, for me at least, where I compete with myself first and everyone else second. Because of that, it has taught me to compartmentalize bad shots and control my emotions that I maybe wasn’t so good at when I was a junior golfer. I can also go out and play with people who maybe aren’t as good and people who are much better without it impacting my game.
A bad day on the golf course is better than a great day in a lot of other places!
Charlotte Davis is a Corpus Christi native who has loved golf since the age of 10. After her first clinic of Girls’ Golf, golf became a huge part of her life story. She went on to play for the University of the Incarnate Word. After the completion of a Bachelors of Business concentrating in PGM, Charlotte worked to raise over $30,000 for non-profit, Broken Chains Recovery Center, through the organization’s annual golf tournaments. With the opportunity to continue to change lives through golf, Davis became a part of the First Tee staff as Program Specialist.
Tell us a little bit about your role as First Tee Program Specialist.
As Program Specialist, I serve as lead coach for our classes. I teach Tiny Tigers, PLAYers/Advanced PLAYers, and Par classes. I also help our coaches prepare for class by organizing lesson plans and set up. I will also be assisting in event coordination for the First Tee Invitational and our Annual Game Changers Luncheon.
What do you value most about your work with the First Tee?
I value the ability to reach the youth in San Antonio and teach them the skills that allowed me to have such a meaningful career in golf. The character skills that we instill in our program are so important, and it feels good to be apart of making the next generation great.
What kind of impact do you hope to have on our participants?
I hope to let them know that through persistence and confidence, they can accomplish many things. Through hard work, our kids can accomplish anything they can imagine. I hope to help them reach their goals in life and in their golf game by not only serving as a coach but a mentor as well.
What impact has golf had on your life?
Golf was the one sport I was good at as a kid. Through the Girls Golf program, I was able to overcome my circumstances and become a college golfer. The sport taught me how important and valuable hard work is. If I went to practice every day, it would allow me to preform better. Golf also showed me the importance of developing a strong mental ability to persevere in every situation I am in. Golf not only brought me my “Why,” but it brought me an education and a lifetime of friendships and memories.
What do you think is the importance of implementing our nine core values/life skills curriculum in our lesson plans for our participants?
The core values serve as great addition to the curriculum because they teach our players that it is equally important to be a great person as well as a great player. If we can develop our students to understand these values early in life and their career, success will come very easily for them. It feels great to contribute to the next generation of role models.
