It started off as a simple enough goal for Southern Hills Country Club: How can we make the Tulsa community better through golf? The answer, it turns out, wasn’t too much more complicated – create the city’s inaugural First Tee chapter.
“Golf has a rich tradition in the community, and the club’s Board of Governors was committed to finding the most effective way to expand the game’s reach,” First Tee-Tulsa Executive Director Janice Gibson said. “They heard about First Tee and applied for a license to become a chapter… from the beginning, the vision was to make it completely free all participants.”
The chapter opened its doors in October 2001, with nearly half a million dollars in support from the club and its membership. With it came the creation of a headquarters at nearby Mohawk Park Golf Course, a city-owned municipal course in the northeast corner of the city chosen strategically to reach kids who otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to golf.
What started out as 381 kids has grown into more than 1,500. Most importantly, both for the club and Gibson, the program remains free for anyone who wants to join aims to include participants from a wide range of diverse socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.
“The whole community is behind it, and Southern Hills is instrumental in keeping it going at no cost to the kids,” Gibson said. “The members bring donations of equipment and gear by the truckload. They support financially through annual giving, fundraisers and tournaments – it’s incredible what they’ve done.”
The chapter also relies on grants to stay true to its original vision. In 2024, the chapter received a USGA IDEA grant – a program that delivers direct funding to community-based programs that break down barriers to participation in golf. By utilizing First Tee’s character-building programs, chapters improve the game’s inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility.
For First Tee-Tulsa, the grant will enable them to expand their school programming and continue their strategy of bringing the program to kids where they are.
“Our chapter runs year-round, and spaces are reserved first for juniors who aren’t already familiar with golf,” Gibson said. “Going to the schools is the best opportunity for us to reach more kids. Our instructors load up their vans with all the golf and life skills equipment and meet the kids after school. Those kids wouldn’t have a chance to experience golf if we didn’t go to them.
“One thing that makes us stand out is, in addition to providing the free life skills and golf programs, we also offer educational opportunities free of cost. That includes tutoring and ACT test prep.”
With the U.S. Women’s Amateur being played at Southern Hills, the championship spotlight provides yet another opportunity for the chapter to further its influence through a Saturday clinic and other on-site opportunities. Yet as the chapter continues to grow and impact more juniors in the Tulsa area, its goal remains the same.
“The most important thing is that we want kids to walk away from this knowing the values that golf teaches,” Gibson said. “Many golfers learn the game through their families when they are younger, but who’s going to introduce kids whose families don’t have that access? That would be us.”