The First Tee of the Triad Salutes 2017 Award Winners, Ace Graduates at Annual Awards Ceremony hosted by the Wyndham Championship

THE FIRST TEE OF THE TRIAD SALUTES 2017 AWARD WINNERS, ACE GRADUATES AT ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY HOSTED BY THE WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP

GREENSBORO, N.C. – – The 2017 season has come to a close for The First Tee of the Triad, and the Piedmont Triad chapter of the international organization presented its season-ending awards to five students and three ACE Graduates with the help of Wyndham Championship tournament director Mark Brazil at Sedgefield Country Club, the chapter announced this evening. The First Tee of the Triad is the local chapter of the international movement to teach children life skills through golf.

The First Tee of the Triad runs after-school programs throughout the school year and various summer programs for the approximately 1,500 students that now participate in the programs offered at the 18 Piedmont Triad locations of The First Tee of the Triad. During school hours, The First Tee programming is available in 145 schools reaching some 54,000 Piedmont Triad children. The nine core values of The First Tee are honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment. Following each season, The First Tee of the Triad presents awards to students who excel in any of the nine core values; awards are not necessarily presented for each value.

As The First Tee of the Triad CEO Mike Barber announced the award winners, Brazil presented the awards. The following children representing multiple Piedmont Triad communities were recognized for their 2017 achievements:

Will Buchanan, 16, Responsibility Award; Tanglewood Park
Morgan Carson, 15, Courtesy Award, Gillespie Golf Course
Issa Cogdell, 12, Respect Award, Winston Lake Golf Course
Joshua Garner, 15, Perseverance Award, Gillespie Golf Course
Richard Levy, 10, Sportsmanship Award, Indian Valley Golf Course

In addition, three First Tee of the Triad students achieved ACE certification, the pinnacle of The First Tee. After completing the first four levels of certification, PLAYer, Par, Birdie and Eagle, students have the option of working towards the final step in the program. ACE focuses on personal planning and reinforces skills learned earlier in the program. ACE graduates have also completed projects in four areas: community service, career, college and golf. The First Tee of the Triad ACE graduates, age, current school and the locations they represent are below:

Harrison Bullock, 19, Reynolds High School, Tanglewood
Isaac Childrey, 9, Tall Pines Academy, Gillespie Golf Course
Malcolm Grant, 18, Parkland High School, Winston Lake

“Hundreds of thousands of kids have gone through The First Tee programming, but only a very minor fraction of them graduate from the ACE Program,” Barber said. “A large percentage of the students that have achieved ACE Graduation have come from our chapter; our three graduates this year join nine who graduated in 2016. Ace graduates are shining examples of what long-term First Tee participants can achieve. Some of these students were accepted into First Tee national events this year representing our local chapter – that’s an incredible honor for them and our chapter.

“We are also extremely proud of our 2017 award winners. These students are setting terrific examples of the core values First Tee programming teaches every day. All of our First Tee of the Triad students can look to these award winners and Ace graduates as examples of how to take advantage of what First Tee programming offers. Congratulations to all of them for their accomplishments and achievements.”

About The First Tee of the Triad:
The First Tee of the Triad is currently operating at 18 facilities throughout the Piedmont Triad, central North Carolina and southern Virginia. Its programming is offered at Bryan Park in Browns Summit, Country Club of Salisbury, DHA-Jones Crossing in Danville, Va., Gillespie Golf Course in Greensboro, Grandover Resort in Greensboro, Goodyear Golf Course in Danville, Va., Greensboro National Golf Club in Summerfield, Indian Valley Golf Course in Burlington, Iron Play Par 3 Links in Summerfield, Jamestown Park Golf Course, Oak Hollow Golf Course in High Point, Rick Murphy Golf Academy in Greensboro, Ringgold Golf Course in Ringgold, Va., Sapona Ridge Country Club in Lexington, Statesville Country Club, Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, Winding Creek Golf Course in Thomasville and Winston Lake Golf Course in Winston-Salem. The First Tee of the Triad is one of 180 chapters operating some 1,000 golf programming locations in all 50 states and four foreign countries with more than 10 million participants. More than 7,000 elementary schools participate in The First Tee National School Program. For additional information, please visit www.thefirstteetriad.org.

About The First Tee:
The First Tee, an initiative of the World Golf Foundation, has as its mission, “To impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf.” The goal of The First Tee is to provide the golf-learning facilities and the experience that will enable kids from every walk of life to partake of a game that teaches values for life and which can be played for a lifetime. Founded by the World Golf Foundation in 1997, The First Tee is a way to bring golf to children that otherwise would not be exposed to the game or its positive values. The program is overseen and has the active support of committee members representing Augusta National Golf Club, the Ladies Professional Golf Association, PGA of America, PGA TOUR and the United States Golf Association. Former President George W. Bush serves as Honorary Chairman; he succeeds his father, former president George H.W. Bush, who served as The First Tee’s Honorary Chairman since the organization’s inception in 1997 and now serves as the Honorary Chair Emeritus.