First Tee – Massachusetts is headed back to the Golf to Paradise—First Tee Champions Challenge (FTCC), in collaboration with the Naples Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ascendant, and the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO.
The Chubb Classic, now in its 36th year as a PGA TOUR Champions event, will be played Feb. 12-18 at Tiburon Golf Club. If you will be in the Naples area and plan to attend the event, 10% of the revenue from tickets purchased using this link will be donated back to First Tee – Massachusetts. To purchase tickets, CLICK HERE
Two representatives from First Tee – Massachusetts, Alex Dias, of Taunton, and David Jope, of Freetown, were selected to represent the chapter at the annual Champions Challenge and will join 10 other teens from First Tee chapters in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Naples/Collier. They will participate in three days of golf competition, community service, and networking.
“We are very grateful to the Chubb Classic and its sponsors for inviting our chapter back to participate in this wonderful event again this year,” said Kyle Harris, Director of Operations of First Tee – Massachusetts. “Last year was an incredible experience for our participants and I know they will get a lot out of it again this year. We are very excited for Alex and David to represent our chapter as they form relationships with other participants from around the country, contribute to a community outside of their own, and test their skills on golf courses and grasses that they’re not used to.”
Both Jope and Dias are long-time First Tee – Massachusetts participants at The Links at Mass Golf in Norton. Jope is returning to this event for a second time, after finishing as the runner-up in 2023 alongside Keira Joshi.
The Champions Challenge will comence with a welcome reception as the participants and chapter representatives gather to watch the Super Bowl. The competitive portion of the trip begins early on February 12, as the participants play a 9-hole Scramble at Tiburon Golf Club’s Gold Course. Round two will be a 9-hole Alternate Shot at Wyndemere Country Club’s Gold Course the following day. The competition will wrap up on February 14 at TwinEagles’ Talon Course with a 9-hole Best Ball to determine the event champions.
Between competition rounds, attendees will participate in several activities including a community service project, a clinic with a PGA TOUR Champions professional, and a catamaran cruise around Naples Bay.
To follow Alex and David’s experience at the First Tee Champions Challenge please follow First Tee – Massachusetts on Facebook and Instagram at @firstteemass.
In 2003, Mass Golf joined the First Tee national network with the goal of bringing an affordable junior golf program to youth and communities that did not have them.
Since that time, Mass Golf has introduced 10 program locations: Cyprian Keyes Golf Club (Boylston), D.W. Field Golf Course (Brockton), William J. Devine GC at Franklin Park (Boston), Hyannis Golf Course (Cape Cod), Cranberry Valley Golf Course (Harwich), Fenway Golf Center (Springfield), KOHR Golf (Natick), Sagamore Spring Golf Club (Lynnfield), The Links at Mass Golf (Norton), and The Ranch Golf Club (Southwick).
As part of the curriculum, the children progress through a series of golf lessons where they are introduced to the different aspects of a golf course including the green, tee, fairway, rough, bunkers, and water hazards. The participants are also introduced to the basic elements of the game of golf and the swing including distance and accuracy control, course management, how to score, pace of play, honor, and proper, grip, stance, and posture.
In addition to golf, the participants are introduced to the nine core values inherent to the game including honesty, integrity, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, sportsmanship, judgment, respect, and courtesy. The life skills experience was the platform used in getting the participants to become comfortable with introducing themselves to others, meeting new people, learning something new, setting goals, and dealing with conflict. The life skills learned are useful for the participants both on and off the golf course.
