Although The Greenbrier Classic officially began Monday with practice rounds and the arrival of many of the PGA Pros, Tuesday was devoted to the annual First Tee Youth Day at the White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia resort.
Bringing together chapters from First Tee West Virginia and First Tee Roanoke Valley, it was a full day of activities, entertainment and competition.
Things kicked off with the First Tee luncheon held the the hotel’s glitzy Chesapeake Room, where over 250 participants dined before being entertained by Greenbrier owner Jim Justice and PGA Pros Sir Nick Faldo, a six-time major winner, and Tour newcomer and Stanford University grad Patrick Rodgers. Rodgers recently received the 2014 Haskins Award, college golf’s most coveted honor.
Faldo and Rodgers fielded questions from the crowd about their golf experiences, but it was Justice that delivered the key message for the youth in attendance.
“First Tee teaches you values in life, way past golf,” Justice said. “Today, for many youth, it’s become not what’s wrong, but what you can get away with.”
Justice has long been a proponent of teaching life lessons to young people, including being the head coach of both the girls and boys varsity basketball teams at Greenbrier East High School in nearby Lewisburg. That’s commitment in time and energy that would rarely be seen in high school sports at most schools, much less from a billionaire entrepreneur.
Justice then had the crowd rolling with stories about his adventures with his wife, Cathy, and his history of playing what he estimated as 500 rounds of golf with Sam Snead.
“I played with Sam when I was a teenager,” Justice noted. “Sam always wanted to put a wager on the match. Finally, when he was 77 (years old), I beat him. I made him sign a $ 20 bill. It gave me a lifetime record of 1-499 against Sam.”
After lunch the action moved to the Meadows for a First Tee clinic and trick shot exhibition by The Greenbrier’s own, pro Billy Winters. This portion of the afternoon also provided the opportunity for giveaways and autographs from the pros practicing on the nearby range and putting green.
“We want to offer the nine core habits and healthy habits to First Tee members,” a First Tee chapter official noted. “We want to not only introduce young people to the game of golf, but have them take away these values from the golf course and into life.”
The First Tee emphasizes honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgement.
The climax of the afternoon began on The Old White TPC first tee where the First Tee scramble played out in front of television and print media.
The three-hole shootout pitted First Tee West Virginia members Coleman Lamp and Abby Roberts teaming with PGA Pro Davis Love III against PGA Pro Morgan Hoffman who teamed with First Tee Roanoke Valley member Tyler Peterson and West Virginia member Freddie Fitsimmons. With a large gallery in tow, and the signature par-3 Old White 18th as finishing hole, the final tally left the Roanoke Valley and West Virginia chapters splitting the $ 10,000 purse.
Play continues Wednesday with the Greenbrier Classic Pro-Am. The four-round tournament begins Thursday with a purse of over $ 1 million.
– Bill Turner’
