First Tee Alums Ready to Put Their Training to Good Use

Green Valley Ranch’s First Tee – the club’s branch of the national youth coaching and mentoring program –has been training young people about etiquette, dealing with pressure and making goals for many years.

The First Tee is one of the key causes that the promoters and sponsors of the Inspirato Colorado Open series support.

The programming is delivered in the guise of golf instruction, but it is so much more.

And the program has been going on long enough that some of its graduates are now old enough to compete in the men’s or women’s Colorado Opens. And several say they owe a lot of their success to lessons they learned on the First Tee.

Hunter Swanson, a rising sophomore at the University of Colorado who just completed his first season as a member of the men’s golf team, joined First Tee – Green Valley Ranch at the age of 5. He competed across the state as a Brighton High School golf team member, and was part of the Buffs team that made it to the NCAA Division 1 championship this year.

“The First Tee is the reason I play golf to this day,” Swanson said. “I live near the course but no one in my family plays. If my parents didn’t buy a house next to a First Tee chapter, I would not have played. It got me into golf, and it built a really excellent community around me.”

The First Tee is structured like many youth instruction groups – like Scouting or well run youth programming of any kind. About half the instruction is specific to the skills it is trying to teach – how to hit a 5-iron. But half is about life, and how to prepare for the road ahead.

“They taught me all the life skills,” Swanson said. “Every class we’d go would be half and half.”

He said they stressed the importance of setting goals for yourself – not just in the game of golf, but in life. The students were exposed to speaking with adults at a very early age, and then playing alongside them.

For Swanson, he said it all added up to where he is now.

He made it to CU, and earned a lot of time playing for the Buffs in competition. In July he is set to play in his first Inspirato Colorado Open of his own.

“I just want to put some good numbers up and see where it falls,” Swanson said. “I’m more just worried about playing my own game and I know that if I played well today that’s good enough for me. I would love to make the cut and make it far.”

Other First Tee graduates who are making their way forward in competitive golf include siblings Emma and Davis Bryant

Their parents are heavily involved in the First Tee operations – mom Julie is the executive director of First Tee - Green Valley Ranch. Her daughter Emma plays on the University of Denver varsity squad, and during this year’s Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open she made the cut.

Davis Bryant was a key member this year of Colorado State University’s mens golf team. He was part of the squad that also made it to the NCAA National Championship this spring.

Kyle Leydon, who went through the First Tee program with Hunter and is now a rising sophomore at Creighton University.

“They molded me and shaped me into the golfer and person I am today,” Leydon said. “They afforded me countless playing opportunities all across the country from Clemson University all the way to Pebble Beach.”

Now, he’s hoping to use what he learned to be a major contributor for Creighton University’s men’s golf team.

“I have lofty goals for myself on the golf course in the coming future,” he said. “I am beyond excited to take my talents to Creighton and play against some of the best players in the nation.”

Both Hunter and Leydon hope to become professional players.

“My long-term goal however is to play professional golf on a major circuit - the PGA Tour or DP World Tour,” he said. “I know if I keep going, work hard, stay disciplined, good things will come.”

Which sums up the First Tee lessons pretty well.

Evans Scholarships are funded by local clubs to reward their best caddies with tuition and roomand-board scholarships at any of 22 universities in the country.

The University of Colorado Chapter has a prominent residence on Broadway Avenue, and is the home to Evans Scholars from throughout the region.

This year the Green Valley Ranch program awarded two student-caddies with Evans Scholarships. Both are planning to attend the University of Colorado this fall.

One of the recipients, Karely Castillo, said of the award “I have had some great experiences over the years at Green Valley Ranch. I officially started caddying in 2019 and began to develop a love for meeting new people as well as getting the opportunity to bond with them on the course.”

The other recipient, Erika Kemp, said “Caddying helped me to develop discipline and character. I found it through my work ethic, my fellow caddies’ dedication and the staff that supported me. My passion is in art practices, architecture and environmental sustainability.”