November 28 Archives - First Tee

FTSV Kids vs. Parents Tournament

Thank you to the all the First Tee – Silicon Valley (FTSV) kids and parents who took part in our first-ever Kids vs Parents tournament on November 11^th at Rancho del Pueblo Golf Course. FTSV kids competed against their parents in this 9-hole stroke play contest. The kids played a scramble format, while the parents played an alternate shot format. It was great to see all of the kids working together as well as the parents throughout the round. We used a Ryder Cup-style scoring – each match was worth one point, with matches ending in a tie worth ½ point to each side. The kids controlled the tournament by winning 8 out of the 10 matches for a final score of 8-2. The low round of the tournament was a 29 turned in by Ben and Liliana Hughes.

We had two course contests – hole #1 was closest-to-the-pin and hole #4 was longest drive. Congrats to our winners from each level:

Parents Long Drive: Mark Johnson

Parents Closest-to-the-Pin: Nate Kassel

Kids Long Drive: Ben Hughes

Kids Closest-to-the-Pin: Beatrice de la Rosa

There were plenty of highlights during the tournament, but the hole that stood out the most was hole #2 where we gave the kids an advantage by allowing them to use a nerf bow and arrow to put their tee shot as close to the pin as possible. The parents also got to have some fun on hole #6 by spinning the random club wheel to determine what they will hit their tee shot with. We look forward to hosting this tournament again and implementing more gimmicky play ideas.

The tournament concluded with a pizza party, awards, and a raffle. It was great seeing families meeting one another and FTSV participants making new friends. Congratulations to all of our participants for competing with respect, integrity, and sportsmanship.

Join us for the next Tournament

Save the date for our next round of tournaments on February 24^th, 2024. Contact Tanner Riley at [email protected] or call (650)-887-7048 for more information. We will release our next event flyer around mid-January. Stay tuned!

FTSV Hosted College Day Tournament

On November 11^th, First Tee – Silicon Valley (FTSV) hosted its annual College Day Tournament where our participants partnered up with a member from the Stanford men’s team, Santa Clara men’s team, or Santa Clara women’s team in a fun, supportive, and competitive environment. Additionally, we invited 6 participants from First Tee – Greater Sacramento to join in the fun.

The players were grouped by age competing in a multi-formatted competition. Course contests such as closest-to-the-pin and long drive were included as well. All of our participants displayed honesty, integrity, and other FTSV life skills impressing the collegiate players. Our participants made the most out this experience by asking for advice about balancing life and higher education.

“Golfing with Meva Schmit from Santa Clara during the college day tournament was such a surreal experience that provided me with a glimpse of how a highly skilled and experienced college golfer approached each and every golf shot. Meva shared with me tips on how she tackled her short game and we delved into deep conversations of balancing sports and academics. Her experience provided me with a unique perspective on how I can personally develop my golf game beyond high school. I am super grateful for the chance to play golf with a college player!” – Natalie

While score is secondary to the experience of playing golf with collegiate players, it’s good to celebrate the winners of this event to recognize their effort.

1st Place

6^th-8^th Grade: Ben Hughes (FTSV) and Kush Arora (Stanford) score of 27

9^th – 12^th Grade: Joey Jang (FTSV) and Ethan NG (Stanford) score of 22

2nd Place

6^th – 8^th Grade: Jayden Aguinaga (FTSV) and Barclay Brown (Stanford) score of 27

9^th – 12^th Grade: Jacob Burnett (FTGS) and Sean Karl Dobson (Stanford) score of 23

3rd Place

6^th – 8^th Grade: Suri Lau (FTSV) and Will Celiberti (Santa Clara) score of 28

9^th – 12^th Grade: Hailey Mac (FTSV) and Muzzy Donohue (Santa Clara) score of 25

Closest to the Pin

Kristen Tang (FTSV) and Rachel Wang (Santa Clara)

Long Drive

Jaiden Aguinaga (FTSV), Joey Jang (FTSV), and Kush Arora (Stanford)

If you’d like to learn more about the opportunities we have for our participants, click here!

First Tee – Silicon Valley’s Winter Pre-Season Girls Golf

First Tee – Silicon Valley hosted our Winter Pre-Season Girls Golf Play Day on November 11^th, 2023, at Rancho Del Pueblo. The theme of the event was Autumn Fun.

20 of FTSV’s youth participants had “fall fun” enjoying games on the practice areas while meeting new friends. The fall event allowed our girls to build confidence by interacting with their grade peers as well as meeting some of our Ace participants who were in attendance as mentors.

On the green, Coach Gracie challenged the participants to compete in a fall-themed version of tic-tac-toe by chipping golf balls to score 3 in a row. The girls were tasked in marking their progress with toy corn-on-the-cobs.

On the range, the girls were given a lesson on the full swing by some of our golfers who either progressed to our Ace classes or are currently starting for their local high school team. Special thanks to Coaches Vian, Elise, Jennifer, Li An, and Natalie!

The event concluded with enjoying snacks, playing fall-themed games, and creating a collage dedicated to Coach Colleen, who is a First Tee master level coach, for all of her support. We hope this experience of building new friends, meeting our Ace participants, and practicing golf together was memorable for our female participants. We’re confident our participants will utilize the life skills they learned from this event.

We are always thrilled to have our Girls Golf event, and want to say thank you to all the participants for making it such a success. Everyone made sure to create an inclusive, supportive and respectful atmosphere where all felt comfortable to learn and try new things. If you are interested in making a positive difference and mentoring youth for First Tee – Silicon Valley & Girls Golf, please visit: firstteesiliconvalley.org/about/volunteer/

Join us for the next Girls Golf Event

FTSV participants are welcome in join. Learn more about our next Girls Golf event on February 24^th, 2024 may contact Manny Gallardo at [email protected] or call (408) 508-4887. We will release our next event flyer around mid-January. Stay tuned!