NORTH MYRTLE BEACH | The First Tee of the Coastal Carolinas youth development organization has been assisting and molding teenagers on the Grand Strand for many years.
With its recent opening and operation of the Arthur M. Blank Teen Center at the PGA Tour Superstore in North Myrtle Beach, the organization has opened its doors to benefit not only its own members but other adolescents in the area.
“We want to bring groups in on a fairly regular basis so the kids get used to coming in, knowing the teen center is here, it’s available for them to come and we have activities for the kids, and have that be on a regular cadence where they know they can come on a Saturday or a Tuesday,” said First Tee of the Coastal Carolinas executive director Ed LaPierre. “And we’ll grow that into a weekly program where we’re open three days a week, or the long-term goal is to have the teen center open six days a week.
“We’ll need volunteers, we’ll need staff to do that once we get to that point, but it’s a process. Right now we’re trying to get exposure for the teen center, let kids know it’s here and it’s available. We’re doing that slowly and building it one brick at a time.”
The two-level teen center has wifi; a TV; fun zone with Nintendo Switch video games and Oculus virtual reality games and a billiards table; and a meeting and study room.
In addition, teens at the center, which is named after PGA Tour Superstore’s philanthropic owner, have some access to hitting bays with golf simulators and a putting green inside the PGA Tour Superstore, which has a remodel of the interior planned that will include updated technology in the hitting bays.
LaPierre is a former executive with PGA Tour Superstore nationally and regionally, and he spoke to a couple of his former bosses within the company about gaining some space in the North Myrtle Beach store location for a teen center.
They were agreeable to it, and the teen center received a $35,000 teen retention grant from PGA Tour Superstores, and numerous donations of materials, construction and furniture from businesses including Braddock Built Renovations, BJ’s Furniture Store and the Superstore.
LaPierre, First Tee community outreach and events manager Wendy Flynn, and First Tee director of instruction and programming Eddie Hopeck are all involved in operating the center, and The First Tee has created a teen center program coordinator intern position that is filled by Coastal Carolina University student Maddie Hansel.
LaPierre said he expects the internship to become a permanent position so the center can remain open more consistently and expand its days and hours.
LaPierre hopes to eventually have a tutor regularly available at the teen center, and to partner with neighboring Azalea Sands Golf Club to have nine holes available for the teens as part of the center’s offerings, at least seasonally.
Catering to the community
In addition to the hosting of First Tee members, programs and event days are being created for outside teens at community assistance organizations such as Sea Haven for Youth, which provides a short-term safe place for youth in crisis; Father’s Place, which supports fathers and their children; and the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS), which would provide counselors to accompany the teens under DSS care. In addition an area boy scout troop, high school golf teams and students are also being welcomed.
Hopeck has also been speaking to home-school parents about scheduling activity days at the center to get The First Tee into their curriculum.
“We want this to be a place where the kids feel safe,” LaPierre said. “They’ll have a safe place to come learn about golf, learn about life skills, learn about pursuing goals, learn about collaborating with others, learn about building a positive self-identity, overcoming challenges, and using good judgment. Those are our five key commitments that we teach the kids, and we’ll reinforce those when they come into the teen center.”
Sea Haven teens have a regular outing at PGA Tour Superstore for 90 minutes on Thursday mornings.
Sea Haven lead crisis counselor Jordan Crigger said the facility has 16 beds in eight rooms and they try to keep the total number of youth at eight or less, though they’ve had as many as 12 at one time, Crigger said.
“We bring all of the kids here. They love getting out,” Crigger said. “I mean, coming here has meant the world to them. Most of them have never even touched a golf club.”
The First Tee’s nine core values and other leadership principles that are stressed at the teen center are also beneficial for the Sea Haven visitors.
“I know what they work on here with Eddie is the basic life skills and leadership skills. Many of them, throughout their whole life, especially in DSS custody, struggle to get a high school diploma, drivers license, permit,” Crigger said. “And here they can learn certain skills like leadership and learning and how to advocate for themselves. A lot of them have had adults fail them, so it’s up to us and programs like this to teach them that all they need is themselves and the skills they develop, so they can go and advocate and get those things that they desire.”
Crigger said Sea Haven’s primary objective for the teens is safety.
“Then working on their service plan goals with education, housing, connections and emotional well-being,” Crigger said. “Coming here it hits all four. Learning the life skills, mental health stuff, their core values, knowing what’s important to them and how they can develop that and make progress on that as they transition. . . . Even though they’re here for a short time we want to get as many programs as we can while they’re here so they can take these skills to the next level where they go, whether it’s a foster home, group home or back home with their family.”
A recent Breaking Barriers Teen Leadership series was held at the Superstore. The leadership program is spearheaded by licensed professional counselor Phillip Harper and focuses on the mental health of its participants.
The First Tee Leadership Academy was also recently held at the PGA Tour Superstore one day a week over five weeks, and First Tee Teen Council meetings are scheduled for one night a month at the center.
“I’m excited about the momentum we’re starting to see,” LaPierre said. “We’re hopeful we can continue to grow it and see the kids have it as a place here in town in the community they want to come and be a part of.”
There is First Tee signage throughout the center promoting the organization, its nine core values, its offerings and the accomplishments of some current or former members.
LaPierre hopes many non-First Tee members who use the center will join the program.
“They can come learn about First Tee, learn about First Tee core values, learn about the First Tee experience, and hopefully want to be part of First Tee,” he said.
Mentor Cup, FGT events upcoming
The Mentor Cup is being expanded into a three-day event Nov. 8-10 with rounds at River Hills Golf & Country Club and Tidewater Golf Club, and a welcome banquet or outing that is scheduled to feature Myrtle Beach resident and national touring magician Carl Michael, potentially at Broadway at the Beach.
The Mentor Cup will expand in terms of reach and participation as well with The First Tee of the Coastal Carolinas largely taking over its operation from the Gene’s Dream Foundation board.
There will be 60 two-person teams consisting of a mentor and a mentee coming from 20 First Tee chapters, including three teams apiece from the Grand Strand area of northeastern SC, and southeastern NC area that includes Brunswick County. Those teams will be determined through qualifiers.
The three teams from each chapter will be in the age groups of 10-12, 13-15 and 16-18.
The Gene’s Dream Foundation includes founder and board member Kelly Tilghman, a North Myrtle Beach native and longtime Golf Channel talent. She helped create the organization following the death of Gene Weldon, who was a mentor to her and the head pro at her family’s Gator Hole Golf Club for the entirety of the North Myrtle Beach course’s existence, is expected to bring a well known golfer or celebrity to interact with Mentor Cup participants.
Last year she brought World Golf Hall of Fame member Nancy Lopez and golf social media influencer Roger Steele.
The Future Generations Tournament fundraiser for the Brunswick County areas of the First Tee of the Coastal Carolinas will be held May 6 at Compass Pointe Golf Club in Leland, N.C., and the Future Generations Tournament for the Grand Strand will be held Aug. 4 at Barefoot Resort’s Dye Club.
Both feature three amateurs paired with a First Tee member in an 18-hole scramble format.
Ongoing fundraisers on the First Tee of the Coastal Carolinas website include a raffle for a golf cart.
The Georgetown County School District incorporates The First Tee into its programming with a school-day program.
