The Big “D” Memorial Scholarship Recipient is Justin Lam

The Big “D” Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Justin Lam on Friday July 20, 2018 at the annual Big D Memorial Golf Tournament at DeLaveaga Golf Course in Santa Cruz.  The golfers attended to remember Dennis “Big D” Kettmann and their generosity provided the proceeds to underwrite a special scholarship for a The First Tee of Silicon Valley chosen participant. Justin has been a participant of The First Tee of Silicon Valley since 2011 and is currently at the Ace level.  He is attending Mitty High School and will be a Junior in the Fall.  Justin’s excellent life skills made him the top candidate for the award.  This scholarship will provide the financial means for Justin to attend college where he would like to study Engineering. Justin gave a speech to the 120+ people in attendance for dinner at the Big D Memorial Tournament.  He shared that he had to use The First Tee of Silicon Valley’s life skill of Planning for the Future to overcome his fear of public speaking by gaining the courage to deliver his acceptance speech.  He also stressed The First Tee core value of confidence has impacted him the most and pushed him out of his comfort zone. Dennis’s son and co-organizer of the Memorial Tournament, Matt Kettmann, learned the game from Dennis and knows that he must be smiling wherever he is knowing that his memory is now helping young people with The First Tee of Silicon Valley fall in love with golf too. Past Recipients are: 2015 — Clare Brady 2016 —Juan-Pablo Roa and Ralph Kho 2017 —Juan-Pablo Roa and Ralph Kho 2018 —Justin Lam