They number in the thousands around the country—an army of volunteers at golf courses who plant seeds of love for golf in children and then nurture that interest in the game and its life lessons. Golf Digest once again recognizes and honors the First Tee Game Changers—the recipients of the highest awards given out by First Tee for their outstanding contributions.

Cooking up a good idea https://www.golfdigest.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2025/1/GD0225_FEAT_GDHONORS_02.jpg

Leslie Kleinman works with a cooking student at First Tee-Cleveland.

Leslie Kleinman, winner of the George H. Bush Volunteer of the Year Award, believes that cooking and golf have a lot in common. “They both are fraught with failure,” she says, and resilience is the key to enjoying and excelling. Kleinman knows that from guiding the “Fit to a Tee” culinary program at First Tee-Cleveland the past 16 years. In the cold winter months, she puts kids into cooking groups, gives them a recipe and ingredients, and then coaches them to work together to get the job done. Estimating that she’s seen more than 1,000 kids go through her classes, Kleinman, 81, says, “I have a passion for this because I just love seeing kids do something for the first time that they never thought they could do.” A retired teacher, Kleinman began volunteering at First Tee-Cleveland in 2003 after seeing a newspaper story about the program and has contributed more than 4,500 hours of service, including teaching golf classes for many years. “You say ‘kids and golf’ and I’m in!” she says.

Bringing golf to Native Americans https://www.golfdigest.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2024/first-tee-layne-frazier.jpg

Layne Frazier, at center with blue shirt, of First Tee-Four Corners introduces golf to most of the students at his school on the Navajo Nation’s reservation.

At 27,000 square miles, the Navajo Nation’s massive reservation that covers parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah is larger than 10 U.S. states, with a population of 165,000 Native Americans. On all of that land is not a single golf course. That didn’t stop Layne Frazier, a P.E. coach at Eva B. Stokely Elementary in the Navajo town of Shiprock, N.M., from teaching golf to school kids while melding his work with First Tee-Four Corners. Frazier, the recipient of First Tee’s Teacher of the Year Award, says few of his students have been exposed to golf before they attend his classes. “For me, there are lots of opportunities to broaden those experiences and have students try new things, and golf is one of those,” Frazier says. “What’s really fun is when I have high school kids come back and tell me they’re on the golf team because they learned from me. It makes you feel like you’re making a difference.” Virtually every child who goes through Stokely Elementary will have experienced golf through Frazier. “They’ll have it in their tool belt,” he says. “In the future, if they want to, they can participate in golf with their family and friends and feel comfortable doing it.”

MORE: Meet Golf Digest’s First Tee Game Changers in 2023

Finding a golf connection during the pandemic https://www.golfdigest.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2024/first-tee-manny-gallardo.jpg

Manny Gallardo, in purple shirt, juggles many valuable jobs at the First Tee-Silicon Valley.

Manny Gallardo grew up and still resides in the Northern California town of Gilroy, renowned for its garlic harvest and the strong aroma that comes with it. To the north is San Jose and the Silicon Valley, a diverse center of entrepreneurship and families from all walks. They are at the core of Gallardo’s work at First Tee-Silicon Valley, where he has been a tireless contributor on numerous fronts as Program Coordinator.

Named as the national First Tee Coach of the Year, Gallardo trains other coaches, manages donations and financial aid, coordinates Girls Golf events, delivers parent orientations and somehow finds time to coach seven golf classes each session. Among his most rewarding projects was leading an effort to make resource videos during the pandemic to educate students and their parents on many aspects of golf. “My dad and I took up golf together, and it was hard learning on our own,” Gallardo said. “I always wanted to teach kids and give them the experience I had, while streamlining it for them. We’re family-oriented, do some goofy stuff to get the kids interested, and have a lot of fun.”

A new par-3 course and a ‘first birdie’ https://www.golfdigest.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2025/1/GD0225_FEAT_GDHONORS_12.jpg

Gary Koch, right, receives his First Tee award.

First Tee-Tampa Bay has the good fortune of having friends in influential places. Gary Koch, the former PGA Tour player and longtime broadcaster, is the chapter’s chairman of the board, and among the volunteers is Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley. Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam have been speakers at chapter fundraisers that consistently raise $1 million each year. With that support, First Tee-Tampa Bay has grown “exponentially” over the last few years, according to Koch, who earned the First Tee’s Tim Finchem Leadership Award. The most impactful result is the funding and construction of a nine-hole par-3 course at the municipal Rogers Park Golf Course. Koch notes that in the time it’s been open, the short course has hosted more than 1,000 rounds and earned more than $100,000 in revenue. The intangibles are a feeling, Koch might say, better than most. “I had one little guy come up to me and say, ‘Mr. Koch! I made my first birdie!’ It doesn’t get much better than that.”

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com