Category: Feature Stories

Loreley & Russell John: First Tee – Greater San Antonio Tiny Tigers Participant & Lead Coach & Father-Daughter Duo

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!  

“My Day Playing Golf and Learning from Tiger Woods” – Shahbaz Hashmi

Written by Shahbaz Hashmi, First Tee – Greater San Antonio Alumni

Shahbaz Hashmi greets Tiger Woods
Shahbaz Hashmi greets Tiger Woods at the Pro-Am event at the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. (Photo credit: Nell Redmond)

Shahbaz Hashmi, a participant at The First Tee of Greater San Antonio and grand prize winner of the Wells Fargo Succeeding TogetherSM Essay Contest, shares what it was like playing a round of golf with Tiger Woods at the Wells Fargo Championship Pro‐Am event. The essay contest, created specifically for the 30,000+ teenage participants of The First Tee, celebrates the impact The First Tee has on students across the country and allows participants to express how The First Tee has had a positive effect on their lives. WHAT WAS IT LIKE PLAYING GOLF WITH TIGER WOOD? “I doubt that words can even remotely do justice to how incredible an opportunity this was, but I am going to try nonetheless! Looking back on my experience as this year’s Wells Fargo Succeeding Together grand prize winner, I find myself so thankful for all that has taken place over the past 13 years as a part of The First Tee to shape me into the golfer and individual that I am today. I have truly grown up through the program, and to progress from simply a participant, to a coach and mentor, and now an ambassador for The First Tee truly means the world to me.

Now onto the fun stuff

Every single aspect of my pro-am experience can be summed up into one word – pure. 

(Photo credit: Nell Redmond)

From the immaculate course conditions at Quail Hollow Club, host of last year’s PGA Championship, to Mr. Woods’ rhythmic, yet powerful swing, to even a handful of shots I hit throughout the day, the round was everything I could have asked for and more. And to be a part of Mr. Woods’ first ever pro-am win is an absolute honor that still hasn’t sunk in yet. One thing worthy of noting is how incredibly warm and welcoming Mr. Woods, his caddie and his manager were. From the moment we were introduced to one another on the range, there was constant chatter (might I say banter?) between Mr. Woods and me about a plethora of topics – from my upcoming AP placement exams to international travel to his junior golf years. Although I got off to a quick start, birdieing both my second and eighth holes, it took a little while to shake off the nerves of playing with the Tiger Woods. With no pars made on my front nine, I didn’t quite steady the ship until the 11th tee, where, as we waited for the fairway to clear, Mr. Woods told me a quick story about what his father instilled in him from a young age: “He would always tell me to swing as hard at the ball as I possibly could, as long as I do two things: one, that I hit the center of the face every time, and two, that I hold my finish every time until the ball drops.” From that drive on, I made it a point to hold my finish, and I quickly returned to my normal ball-striking form, making par on every single hole coming in, including the notoriously difficult Green Mile. The early round nerves seemed to fade away until the eighteenth green, where I was left with a five-foot birdie putt after crushing a drive and flipping a short iron approach. The trepidation of my opening tee shot seemed insignificant to the pressures of knocking in a five-footer amidst a sea of fans – granted they weren’t there to see me. At least I missed it on the high side! 

(Photo credit: Nell Redmond)

The highlight of our pro-am round (aside from winning the pro-am, of course) came on the seventh-hole, a scenic, reachable par-five with water lining it’s entire left side. Mr. Woods and I were talking about the research and development that went into his new irons, but our conversation soon turned to his putter, famously responsible in part for 13 of his 14 major championship wins. As he lined up his ball with putter in hand, I cheekily asked him, “So what’s the insurance policy on this one?”, which was met with an equally delighted smile. “You wanna roll a few putts with it?” he asked. How could I say no? Not only did I get to use his putter, but he used mine as well!

Thank You

To Mr. Woods, thank you so much for your kindness and generosity, and for making me feel so welcome and so comfortable not only during our round together, but throughout the week. To The First Tee, Wells Fargo and Quail Hollow Club, I cannot thank you enough for affording me the opportunity to play alongside my hero, my idol and my inspiration.” ~ Shahbaz Hashmi