Seasonal Tournament Archives - Page 2 of 2 - First Tee

Kids and Coaches Seasonal Tournament

This past Saturday, February 24th, First Tee – Silicon Valley hosted our highly anticipated ‘Kids and Coaches Tournament’ of the Spring 2024 season. With a great turnout of twenty total players, ten participants and ten coaches, we were able to have an alternate shot tournament where each team was able to play 9 holes. Within the back loop of Rancho del Pueblo, these awesome participants were able to display the golf skills and etiquette they have been learning within our program. This was an opportunity for them to better those skills by placing themselves in a competitive environment where they are forced to focus on their pace of play and the improvement of their own game. From playing the 9 hole-round to participating in the challenges we held in between, Program Coordinator for South San Jose, Tanner Riley, was able to organize a fun experience for everybody involved.

Winners!

Playing through holes 3 through 7, the tournament came to a close finish with the top 3 winners being just points away from one another. With 37 total strokes; Ella Julian (4th grade) was able to place third with her partner, Coach Teri Kent. Closing with a total of 36 strokes, Thomas Do (3rd grade) and Coach Bob Dietz were able to secure second place. Finally, finishing with 35 total strokes, Riya Shah (2nd grade) and Coach Natalie Chen took the prize of bragging rights for this upcoming season by placing first!

Within this tournament, we were able to host small events where participants could focus on specific parts of their game. In the “closest to the pin” challenge, Damian Gutierrez (4th grade) was able to show off his precision on hole 7 by getting it just 26 yards away from the pin on his first shot. In the “longest drive” contest on hole #4, Jonathan Cholula was able to show off his long drive skills by hitting well over our 110-yard marker. Another great thanks to CourseCo for donating a certificate to FTSV for a foursome at Deep Cliff as a raffle prize. The winner was Christine Koh!

First Tee of Silicon Valley is beyond grateful for everyone’s efforts of making it out and being a part of our tournament. Coaches, we could not have done it without your participation and commitment to our program. Parents, our organization is forever grateful for the dedication you all continue to make week in and week out by bringing your children to these events. To our wonderful participants, we admire the growth you all have made and continue to make and we look forward to seeing you all again in our upcoming seasons!

The next event is scheduled for May 11^th. Contact Tanner at Tanner@ftsv.org for more information.

Adult vs. Junior Spring Tournament

Our 2024 Spring off-season provided opportunities for our participants to exhibit their life and golf skills as they continue to grow with our program. This year, on February 24^th, we were fortunate enough to have families come join us at Gavilan College Golf Course for an Adult + Junior Tournament. With Coach Manny’s wonderful coordination, we hosted a mentor-based duos competition with an alternate shot format.

Under the warm Gilroy sun overseeing the hillside, our golfers were able to make some memories that highlighted the values we teach at First Tee – Silicon Valley. From motivating each other after every shot to celebrating the small successes they each had, this tournament was full of positive reinforcement.

While every participant demonstrated their talents, we were able to celebrate some really great performances.

Overall Winner:

Asher and Derek Andersen

1st Place Winners:

Ben and Brent Hughes
Victor Kotlyar and Phoenix Jarrell-Desch

2nd Place Winners:

Allen Xiang Hao and Yuan Hao
Austin Andersen and Eric Wible
Leonardo Villegas Luiz and Michael Faraday

3rd Place Winners:

Wyatt and Brent Doiguchi
Henry and Vince Gutierrez
Adam and Robert Rosa
Tristan Hipolito and Beverly Llamas

We also saw some great pin point precision in our in-tournament challenges. The winners of our long drive competitions included: Victor Kotlyar for the 2^nd and 5^th graders, Ben Hughes for 6^th through 7^th graders, Tristan Hipolito for the 8^th grade and up, and Coach Phoenix for the adults. The closest to the pin winners included: Ben Hughes for his kids section tee shot 10.6ft from the pin and Brent Hughes for his adults section tee shot 7ft from the pin.

First Tee of Silicon Valley could not be more grateful for the success of the Adults + Junior Tournament. With everyone’s great energy, awesome golf etiquette, and overall attendance, we were able to host one of the most rewarding events of the year. As an organization that creates opportunities, we appreciate the effort everyone made throughout this tournament. We saw new golfers arise within the adults, and participants find new bonds with their adults – exactly what this tournament was all about.

We are beyond appreciative of all the coaches who came out to fill in as partners and helped us make this event possible. Thank you to our parents who came out to play. Your presence made a positive effect on the kids. To our wonderful spectators and supporters, we cannot be more happy to have such a great support system for our program and kids.

The next event is scheduled for May 11^th. Contact Manny at [email protected] for more information.

PUBLISHED: 03-13-2024

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)