New Summer Offerings for Sanhills Youth

With my families first summer in the Sandhills under our belt and the second one quickly approaching, we feel more at ease for what opportunities it will bring and adventures our family of four can look to conquer. The first summer was all about survival. My husband and I both work full time so our needs don’t change just because the calendar says “look at me – its summer!” Our forecast instead revolves around answering these questions – what’s the best place for the kids to spend their day? Will they have fun, learn something new or be bored? Will they be safe? Will they be required to continue to follow rules? Is it cost effective? Whether age 5 or 15, these questions remain the same. At The First Tee of the Sandhills we ponder the same questions in advance of summer every year. Working to ensure that our summer offerings are meeting the needs of the various communities we support. Needs that look very different here at our office in Pinehurst, east of us in Fayetteville or southeast in Lumberton. This summer we are excited to roll out two new opportunities in the Sandhills. One for our youngest participants, age 5 and 6, and the other for our oldest, teenagers! In partnership with Aberdeen Parks & Rec we will host a TARGET 1 program on their baseball fields off Highway 5 on Thursday mornings at 9:00am and 10:15am. TARGET 1 is a program geared for those youngsters eager to try out golf while still being able to run around and express themselves away from the quieter confines of the golf course. It’s sure to be a fun mix of learning and structure along with challenges and games. This program will be every Thursday for five weeks beginning June 23. One misconception in the world of The First Tee is you must join early. In actuality that’s not the case at all. A 13, 14 or 15 yr old can join The First Tee having played golf their whole life or having never picked up a club. For this nucleus of teenagers we’ve created our PLAYer for Teens program. A chance for Teens to get engaged in The First Tee, its curriculum and take advantage of the high school age benefits while not being paired up with their much younger sibling. With the timing of school dismissal and lag to get to a golf course, during the year this program runs on Saturday afternoons at Country Club of Whispering Pines. Having once been a teenager, we all know that most would rather be at the lake on a Saturday afternoon in the summer. Well, this summer we are starting something new. A Teen Club – of sorts – thanks to the support of Knollwood Fairways and their Professional Staff. For six Tuesday evenings this summer, beginning June 21, teens will join us for a special series. Here’s the game plan – they’ll get dropped off at 4:30pm and pair up with fellow participants and adult volunteers to head out for an on course experience. Around 6:00pm everyone will come together inside Knollwood Fairways clubhouse to cool off and enjoy dinner, on us. For the last 45 mins, or so, they’ll go back outside to work on what they learned on course while using The First Tee curriculum as their compass – all wrapping up around 7:00 – 7:15pm. Whether you have a 5 yr old, teenager, or someone in between, we have over 20 programs lined up for summer fun. Make sure to visit our website now, www.firstteesandhills.org, to find the right fit for your youngster. Registration opens Monday, May 9 at 9:00am!