Category: Year

Please meet our new staff member, Elora Rodriguez. She joined our First Tee – Silicon Valley family in February 2022 as a Program Coordinator.

Elora was a program participant in our Eagles program which predated our transition to an official First Tee chapter in 2005. Since then, she received her Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies/Psychology and her Master of Science in Justice Studies from San Jose State University.  She is a third generation San Jose native who spent years working in San Jose as a Community Service Specialist, a Behavioral Specialist, and a Youth Outreach Worker where she provided direct crisis prevention and intervention strategies for at-risk youth. Additionally, she was the Head Women’s Golf Coach at Notre Dame High School in San Jose.

“First Tee – Silicon Valley has provided me with the necessary space, tools, and support to thrive as a community educator and leader,” says Elora. ”Through strong and intentional collaboration, we as a team and community, are fully capable of empowering youth (on the course and far beyond) to reach their greatest potential!”  

Twenty years after being a program participant, she is now using her acquired experience to be a guiding force for others.

“We are grateful and excited to have Elora join our team,” says Program Director, Chris Moreno-Hunt. “Her experience and passion for serving her community shines through in her interactions with participants, and in her collaboration with our staff. We look forward to learning from her, and working with her to positively impact Silicon Valley youth.”

In addition to assisting with program coordination, you can find Elora coaching at Rancho Del Pueblo and Baylands Golf Links.  If you are interested in joining Elora and other caring First Tee coaches, please let us know!

How to get started

• Visit our volunteer page and click on the volunteer form.
• Or contact Julie Donnellan at 408-508-4882 or [email protected]
• Click here for our volunteer tri-fold for more information
• We are accepting volunteers year-round, but to be able to coach in the next season you will need to complete the on-boarding steps by 5/15 for Summer, 8/15 for Fall, 11/15 for Winter, and 2/15 for Spring
• Training provided (golf and life skills)

We have good news! On Tuesday, March 15^th, San Jose’s City Council voted to proceed with negotiating a 3-course lease beginning 1-1-2023 for Rancho del Pueblo, Los Lagos, and San Jose Muni AND to require that the future operator, in turn, negotiate an expanded, long-term agreement with First Tee – Silicon Valley for our use of Rancho. We expect to know which operator the City selects by November.

FTSV has enjoyed a 21-year collaboration with the Department of Parks & Rec and CourseCo, Rancho’s operator since its opening. However, while FTSV has been seeking greater access for our programs, we have never been granted enough access to meet the high demand for our programs.

We are excited to partner with the new operator to help Rancho transform into a “Community Golf Center” to maximize its benefit to the surrounding community. As such, Rancho would become a more welcoming place for East San Jose residents, beginning golfers, and youth in keeping with FTSV’s policy to welcome all kids regardless of background or ability to pay.

FTSV is seeking increased access to reach at least 1,500 youth per year at Rancho. This access for the long-term will enable FTSV to invest in improvements to Rancho that will benefit our program and the course’s customers. For example, FTSV would like to convert the unused café into a classroom for FTSV that may also be reserved for outside groups.

Stay tuned to our Newsletter and web site Stories for further updates as the process unfolds.

Contact your San Jose City Council Member or the Mayor if you would like to share your FTSV experience at Rancho or your support for FTSV’s expanded access at Rancho.

Contact George Maxe at [email protected] or 408-288-2937 if you have any questions.

Join the Caddy Club as a way to support our Financial Aid Program and meet the needs of providing a nurturing environment for the young people in our community.

• All Caddy Club members receive invitations to our free Donor Appreciation events which includes our Caddy Club Majors Competition.  It kicks off with the Masters on April 7^th and also includes PGA Championship May 19-22, US Open June 16-19, and Open Championship July 14-17. 

• Every $240 donation allows FTSV to offer financial aid to a new under-served, at-risk youth participant to attend an 8-week program.

• Become a Caddy Club member by making a minimum $20 monthly donation for at least 12 months or a one-time donation of a minimum of $240.  Click Here to Join!

Together, Building Game Changers!

Our kids and teens are facing challenges unseen by previous generations. Many lack access to safe opportunities that foster a culture of acceptance and provide mentorship. They live in a world where social pressures are always on, calm and confidence are hard to access, and perseverance is a required superpower every day.

Youth Development through Golf

FTSV exists to enable kids to build the strength of character that empowers them through a lifetime of new challenges. By seamlessly integrating the game of golf with life skills curriculum, we create learning experiences that build inner strength, self-confidence, and resilience that kids carry in everything they do. With the belief that ALL kids deserve the chance to grow in a supportive environment with mentors guiding them. We are dedicated to building golf programs that are accessible, welcoming, and as impactful as they are fun.

Who You Will Be Helping:

(FTSV on-course participants)

• 90% racially diverse
• 100% certifying youth graduate from HS
• 100% Ace top level teens go to college
• 80% achieve all A’s and B’s in school

Class Participant Surveys Reported:

• 97% Had fun
• 96% Said Coaches were fun and cared
• 94% Like golf and improved golf skills
• 90% Felt included as part of the group
• 88% Want to continue with FTSV classes
• 84% Learned new life skills to improve their character

Thank you to our Sponsors and 123 attendees for joining us for Battle of the
Bays @ TopGolf benefiting First Tee – Silicon Valley on March 28th . Our
inaugural event was a big success raising over $78,000 dollars to support
financial aid and STEM education.

This was made possible through the support of Pangenera, LLC – Jeff Burrill;
Sue Farwell, Hallagan Huston Family Foundation, Huston Family Foundation,
EY, PWC, Almaden G&CC Members and FTSV Board Members especially
Board Director Ron Hallagan.

It was a fun and social evening with 19 teams of 6 to 12 players competing
which also included FTSV Coach and Ace participant teams underwritten by
our sponsors. Each team played 2 Top Contender Rounds hitting a total of
120 golf balls per round for a total of 240. In each round each player took
turns hitting 4 balls to the 5 designated targets on the range to gain the
maximum points for their team, which was officially scored on the Top Golf
leaderboard.

The team with the highest best ball score after 2 rounds was declared the
Winner and crowned the inaugural “Battle of the Bays” Champion and
awarded golf and lunch for 6 at Spyglass Hill Golf Course/Roy’s in Pebble
Beach. Congrats go out to The Baylanders Bay #334 which included FTSV
Coaches – Bruce Jaffe, Chris Moreno-Hunt, Jack Bachofer, and Tracy Cone
scoring 612 Total Points!

The event also included dinner, drinks, tee prizes and a raffle. Click here for
more updates and our Facebook photo link. It was a fabulous fundraiser with
the support of our generous sponsors!

We would like to welcome our two new coaches, Franchesca Garcia and Tiffany Lau. Additionally, we are pleased to announce we will be having 12 new volunteer coaches this season with another 12 in the onboarding process.

Our new additions join a coaching team of over 20 instructors and over 50 volunteer coaches, serving 500 participants this spring. Not only do they allow for more participants to take the program, but they are responsible for establishing a strong relational climate and an engaging learning environment for our participant. According to our most recent survey,

• 96% of our participants felt their coaches cared about them
• 97% said their coaches kept them engaged and active
• 96% said their coaches improved their life skills
• 92% said their coaches improved their golf skills

First Tee – Silicon Valley coaches go through 4 trainings within the year where we practice our golf and life skill curriculum, develop strategies for activity-based learning and mix in developmental relationship tools from the Search Institute and Positive Coaching Alliance.

Making a difference is best done as a team, and we are fortunate to have a strong and growing team of coaches leading the way.

Interested in getting started:

If you are interested in joining our growing team, learning new skills, and making a difference please:

• Visit our volunteer page and click on the volunteer form.
• Contact Julie Donnellan at 408-508-4882 or [email protected] for volunteering
• Contact Chris Moreno-Hunt at 408-508-4884 or [email protected] for paid coaching
• Click here for our volunteer tri-fold for more information
• We are accepting volunteers year-round, but to be able to coach in the next season you will need to complete the on-boarding steps by 2/15 for Spring, and 5/15 for Summer, 8/15 for Fall, and 11/15 for Winter
• Training provided (golf and life skills)

Join the Caddy Club as a way to support our Financial Aid Program and meet the needs of providing a nurturing environment for the young people in our community.

Together, Building Game Changers!

Our kids and teens are facing challenges unseen by previous generations. Many lack access to safe opportunities that foster a culture of acceptance and provide mentorship. They live in a world where social pressures are always on, calm and confidence are hard to access, and perseverance is a required superpower every day.

Youth Development through Golf

FTSV exists to enable kids to build the strength of character that empowers them through a lifetime of new challenges. By seamlessly integrating the game of golf with life skills curriculum, we create learning experiences that build inner strength, self-confidence, and resilience that kids carry in everything they do. With the belief that ALL kids deserve the chance to grow in a supportive environment with mentors guiding them. We are dedicated to building golf programs that are accessible, welcoming, and as impactful as they are fun.

Who You Will Be Helping:

(FTSV on-course participants)

• 90% racially diverse
• 100% certifying youth graduate from HS
• 100% Ace top level teens go to college
• 80% achieve all A’s and B’s in school

Class Participant Surveys Reported:

• 97% Had fun
• 96% Said Coaches were fun and cared
• 94% Like golf and improved golf skills
• 90% Felt included as part of the group
• 88% Want to continue with FTSV classes
• 84% Learned new life skills to improve their character

How You Can Help:

• Every $250 donation allows FTSV to offer financial aid to a new under-served, at-risk youth participant to attend an 8-week program.
• Become a Caddy Club member by making a minimum $20+ monthly donation for at least 12 months or a one-time donation of a minimum of $240+. Click Here to Join!

All Caddy Club members receive invitations to our free Donor Appreciation events which includes our Caddy Club Majors fantasy golf competition with more than $25,000 in donated prizes available. It kicks off with the Masters on April 7^th. 

First Tee – Silicon Valley’s Spring Pre-Season 4-Person Golf Tournament was a smashing success on Saturday, February 26^th at Rancho del Pueblo! We held a pink ball 4-person tournament with Santa Clara University Men’s and Women’s golfers joining our participants. The tournament was our largest in recent memory with 80 golfers total including 60 FTSV students playing.

 The theme for the tournament was collaboration with a team format where each team of 4 worked together to compete against the other groups. To promote mentorship, each group was composed of a Par student, Birdie student, an Eagle/Ace student, and a SCU team member. Not only was the SCU player helping our participants, but our older participants were mentoring the younger ones as well.

As far as the competitive results go, it was highly competitive at the top of the leaderboard, with the top 5 teams being separated by a total of 5 strokes. The top five were as follows:

Team Results

(Pink Ball Score + Low Ball Score)

1st Place: Team Score of 62

Johnny Ward (SCU), Li An Panfil (Ace), Vincent Vo (Birdie), Audrey Schroeder (Par)

2nd Place: Team Score of 63

Maddison Spiess (SCU), Joshua Jang (Ace), Katie Hwang (Birdie), Edwin Sanchez (Par)

3rd Place: Team Score of 64

Naomi Wong (SCU), Brian Yu (Ace), Jacob Hwang (Birdie), Jesse Jang (Par)

4th Place: Team Score of 66

Nolan Forsman (SCU), Amy Tran (Ace), Alejandro Chavez (Birdie), Nia Espiritu (Par)

5th Place: Team Score of 67

Jack Avrit* (SCU), Brady Stidham (Ace), Sahara Huchim Velasquez (Birdie), Samuel Tran (Par)

            *Worthy to note that Jack Avrit is an alum of First Tee – Central Coast.

The course contest was Closest to the Pin on Hole #2. The green was quite difficult for the participants to hit Saturday, but there were two winners. Norah Yang won the Ace/Eagle division with an impressive shot to 14 feet. The winner for Par, and overall closest, was Audrey Schroeder with a shot to 9 feet of the pin! The top three teams will be receiving FTSV cinch bags and the Closest to the Pin winners will be getting FTSV hats.

It was a very exciting day at Rancho del Pueblo! We had fun, achieved our goals, met new people, and welcomed Santa Clara University golfers to join our community. FTSV owes a HUGE thanks to the SCU Men’s Coach, Andrew Larkin, for bringing both the Men’s and Women’s teams out! He said, “My players had a ton of fun and enjoyed mentoring the FTSV participants. We look forward to future partnerships and events with your organization.

FTSV Par level and above participants be on the lookout for our Chapter Championship after this Spring season on May 21^st. Our pre-season tournaments are a great way to gain competitive experience in a fun and supportive environment. For more information on our pre-season tournaments, please contact Robby Keith at [email protected], 408-288-2934, or visit our youth opportunity page.

First Tee – Silicon Valley hosted our Spring Pre-Season Girls Golf Play Day on Saturday, February 26^th at Rancho del Pueblo.  Fifteen of FTSV’s Girls Golf members enjoyed a fun and collaborative day on the golf course. It was an opportunity to appreciate and enjoy the game of golf while empowering participants to feel confident, build self-esteem and make new friends in an all-girl environment.

The girls were tasked with a mission to overcome the challenges given to them for each hole. Coaches prepared different challenges for the girls such as Bingo Bango Bongo, Closest to the Green and Team Trivia. The girls got to work as a team while also playing as individuals. They had the opportunity to develop stronger communication skills as well as realize their potential as they accomplished the goals for each hole. Our wonderful junior coaches, Jasmine and Amy, mentored the participants and gave them golf tips and a fun time on the course. At the end of round, the girls collected their prizes and left with more confidence to prepare them to take on new challenges.

All FTSV Girls PLAYer Part 2 and above interested in joining, or learning more about our next Girls Golf event on 5/21, please contact Gabby Ruiz at [email protected] or call 408-508-4883. We will release our next event flyer on our youth opportunity page around mid-April. Stay tuned!

First Tee – Silicon Valley was the recipient of a generous $15,000 grant from CordeValle Youth Golf Foundation  (CYGF) to underwrite a portion of the 2022 Volunteer and Instructor Uniforms (hats & shirts) and Instruction. We are a growing chapter that relies heavily on golf enthusiasts and youth development foundations like CYGF to support our mission.

The non-profit CordeValle Youth Golf Foundation was founded in 2004. The foundation’s mission is to expand access to the sport of golf for children of all income levels by directly supporting successful youth golf programs throughout the Santa Clara County. The goal is to provide youth with the opportunity to learn the sport, receive lessons and equipment, practice, compete, and build positive life skills.

The Foundation annually awards approximately $100,000 in grants to deserving programs. The foundation is funded through a $50,000 annual contribution from CordeValle Golf Club and raises an additional $50,000 per year through CordeValle’s public charity tournaments.

CordeValle Youth Golf Foundation and First Tee – Silicon Valley are equally committed to expanding opportunities for youth of all income levels to have access to the sport of golf. Through the discipline and challenge of golf, youth in the Santa Clara County are provided a community with a safe environment and positive life alternatives that build confidence and character, ultimately helping them succeed in our community and in life.

CordeValle has been the location for the annual FTSV Invitational since 2005.

Five First Tee – Silicon Valley (FTSV) active Ace high school participants will get the opportunity to take part in the second annual First Tee Leadership Series in partnership with PGA TOUR Superstore. The Leadership Series is an engaging and empowering five-week series designed to provide teens the opportunity to (1) build relationships with local PGATSS leadership, (2) uncover their leadership values and strengths, (3) identify potential careers based on those findings, and (4) develop goals on how to attain their desired career path.

Facilitated by PGA TOUR Superstore General Managers, the Leadership Series will create a pathway for participating teens by providing additional mentors for them to consult with regarding future school and career options. First Tee teens who complete the five-week leadership series will be eligible to apply for the First Tee Leadership Summit at West Creek Ranch in Montana in the summer.

This year, 31 First Tee chapters will be participating in the First Tee Leadership Series. Last year 2 of our participants were selected for their work at the Leadership Series to attend the Leadership Summit in Montana. Click here for the video recap.

East Palo Alto PGA TOUR Superstore General Manager, Justin Secrest, will be leading the series of classes for both the Silicon Valley and San Francisco First Tee chapters.

To be eligible for national opportunities like the Leadership Summit one must be an active Ace participant, which is the top level of our program. For more information on our national, regional, and local participant opportunities. Please visit our youth opportunity page.

What does it look like to be a leader with others and in your community? Over the course of taking our 5 class levels, participants build the pillars for effective leadership. From developing confidence, embodying integrity, to learning active listening and collaborative communication skills, to using conflict resolution skills, and engaging in decision making techniques, our participants experience the different skills necessary to be an effective leader. Additionally, they are participating in group play, games, and discussions where they can hone these skills.

We want our participants to be of good character and understand that leadership is not about telling people what to do, but working together to make good decisions and empowering each other.

We are excited to present another season this Spring where our participants learn leadership skills while having fun and playing games.

Registration for the Spring season opens Wednesday, February 9^th. The actual season will start March 15th and will end May 7^th.The classes will take place at Baylands Golf Links in Palo Alto, Rancho Del Pueblo Golf Course in San Jose, and Gavilan Golf Course in Gilroy.  We encourage youth 2^nd grade and above to join our program and help spread the word. For more information on our programs please visit https://www.firstteesiliconvalley.org/. and click here for the Spring schedule. To register please click here

We hope to see you at the course!

Meet Coach Tracy. She joined First Tee – Silicon Valley as a volunteer in 2019 and has made a positive impact on her participants and on our organization.

Tracy played golf at ASU and has a passion for giving back. “First Tee – Silicon Valley means that I can share my lifelong passion for golf with the upcoming generation of golfers,” says Tracy. “And while it’s great to see their golf skills improve over the season, it’s even more rewarding to help them learn and apply the life skills in their daily lives.”

Tracy has coached every season since she started, but her contributions go beyond her commitment. She, along with fellow volunteer Mark Diamond, worked with our staff to create an additional resource in the volunteer training process. In her most recent season, she came up with a new activity that helped her participants internalize and engage with the core lessons for the season.

“Tracy is meticulous about mastering her volunteer responsibilities and requirements, and also goes above and beyond by identifying creative ideas that enhance our lesson plans and the experience of her participants,” says Program Director, Chris Moreno-Hunt. “She is an outstanding volunteer who is knowledgeable, collaborates well with her team of coaches, and cares about the development of her participants. We are grateful to have her coaching and our organization is better off with her on the team.”

We are looking for additional coaches like Tracy. If you are interested in making a positive difference, being part of a supportive community, and building your coaching and leadership skills, please apply to join our team.

How to get started

• Visit our volunteer page and click on the volunteer form.
• Or contact Julie Donnellan at 408-508-4882 or [email protected]
• Click here for our volunteer tri-fold for more information
• We are accepting volunteers year-round, but to be able to coach in the next season you will need to complete the on-boarding steps by 2/15 for Spring, and 5/15 for Summer, 8/15 for Fall, and 11/15 for Winter
• Training provided (golf and life skills)