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The First Tee Announces Inaugural Scholarship Recipients Arnold Palmer is special guest at The First Tee Congressional Breakfast on Capitol Hill Contact Amy Caruso WASHINGTON, DC (July 9, 2003) - Champions Tour and World Golf Hall of Fame member Arnold Palmer was on Capitol Hill today to help announce The First Tee's first seven scholarship recipients during the second annual The First Tee Congressional breakfast. Palmer joined, PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem and The First Tee Executive Director Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., to present the scholarship awards to two of The First Tee participants who were in attendance. Kristen Knight from The First Tee of Fort Smith (AR) and Christopher Hawkins from The First Tee of Atlanta accepted their awards with the satisfaction of knowing that they are headed off to college this fall with assistance through a program they joined just three years ago. "If these young scholarship recipients, Kristen and Christopher, represent what we can expect from The First Tee, then this program is indeed having a positive impact," said Palmer. "We want to bring more kids into the game of golf, but we also want to protect the integrity of the game and take all that is positive about the game and infuse that into the lives of these kids. "The reaction of the youngsters to the Life Skills instruction has been just what we would want," Palmer added. "We hear kids talking about being good role models to their younger bothers and sisters, and we see them becoming more confident before our eyes." The breakfast, which was held in the Mansfield Room of the U.S. Capitol Building, was co-hosted by Senators Don Nickles (R-OK) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) along with Congressmen Tom DeLay (R-TX), John Boehner (R-OH) and James Clyburn (D-SC). The purpose of the breakfast was to introduce additional members of Congress to The First Tee, an initiative of the World Golf Foundation dedicated to impacting the lives of young people by introducing them to the game of golf and its inherently positive values. The First Tee Scholars Program began following the announcement made by Dr. William Crouch Jr., president of Georgetown College (KY), during The First Tee's Fourth Annual Meeting in 2001. Crouch announced the dedication of two annual scholarships to Georgetown College for eligible participants of The First Tee. Since then, the program has grown to include 17 additional colleges and universities, all providing a level of tuition assistance to qualified participants of The First Tee. "It gives us great pleasure to provide these scholarships to Kristen and Christopher as well as the other five recipients of this year's award," said Barrow. "The First Tee Scholars Program provides significant opportunities to these young people that reach far beyond the golf course and far beyond The First Tee. We wish them all great success in their futures and thank them for being a part of The First Tee." The First Tee was created nearly six years ago to provide young people of all backgrounds an opportunity to develop, through golf and character education, life-enhancing values such as honor, integrity and sportsmanship. The program has grown significantly and today has: * Introduced over 170,000 young people to the game of golf and The
First Tee Life Skills Experience Through The First Tee Life Skills & Golf Experience, participants learn valuable lessons about the importance of maintaining a positive attitude; how to make decisions by thinking about the possible consequences; how to define and set goals; and how values such as honesty, integrity, responsibility, respect, confidence, judgment, perseverance, courtesy and sportsmanship transfer from the golf course to everyday life. Using golf's unique ability to teach these core values, The First Tee has had tremendous success in providing children with lessons that will help them to become responsible and productive members of society. The World Golf Foundation, which is supported by all of the major international golf organizations and professional tours, oversees the World Golf Hall of Fame and other nonprofit components of World Golf Village near St. Augustine, FL. As sole founding partner of World Golf Village, Shell Oil Company provides financial support to the World Golf Foundation and supports its charitable initiatives aimed at introducing golf to young people, thereby promoting scholastic achievement, community service and those values intrinsic to the game of golf. |