Jayquann Johnson was 8 years old when he ventured onto the Clifton Park Golf Course — across the street from where his father was killed — to simply hit golf balls and pick up pointers.

Instead, Johnson discovered First Tee, a program weaving together life and golf skills.

Johnson, now the community outreach coordinator at First Tee Greater Baltimore, attended St. Frances Academy on scholarship and earned his degree in social work from Morgan State on scholarship — all thanks to skills and connections accumulated on the golf course.

Youth golf initiatives around Baltimore, such as First Tee, help kids of all levels overcome the cost and representation obstacles the sport often presents, offering life skills and opportunities along the way.

“It’s more than just a cost and a nice outfit at a country club and expensive things. Golf is all about relationships, it’s all about networking, it’s all about fun,” Johnson said.

Bank of America’s Golf with Us initiative offers kids ages 6-18 a free membership to Youth on Course, which offers tee times for $5 or less at 21 courses in Maryland and over 2,000 nationwide. While the deadline to sign up has passed, more than 1,000 kids in Maryland already enrolled.

“We recognize that access is still an issue. The game can be expensive, so creating Golf with Us really helps to create that access,” said Janet Currie, president of Bank of America Greater Maryland.

Additionally, First Tee Greater Baltimore and Del. Jackie T. Addison will host a free golf clinic at the Clifton Park Golf Course from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday for kids in the 45th Legislative District. The clinic will include hitting and putting stations with coaching.

Beyond the clinic, Johnson added First Tee is always willing and ready to accept new participants.

The number of junior golfers on the course has skyrocketed 48% since 2019, according to the National Golf Foundation. Currie said these initiatives hope to capitalize on the recent surge and offer life lessons along the way. Golf training has been shown to positively impact children’s resilience development, a study by Mental Health & Prevention found. A survey of three-year participants at First Tee noted 82% confidence in social skills and 73% confidence in academics.

Jonathan Moon, a member of Youth on Course, said golf has taught him lessons in resilience, patience and integrity.

“Golf takes commitment. I mean, it’s hard,” said Moon, 18, who played the Clifton Park course recently. “When you hit it right into the trees or something like that, you’ve always got to figure out how I’m gonna make up for that.”

The connections and relationships built with someone during a four-hour round of golf can “change your life,” Johnson said.

It is one way golf opens unique doors that other sports may not.

Before Moon joined Youth on Course in 2018, he would only play early bird tee times due to their low cost, but even then, costs were often unaffordable. Michael Lowe, head of impact at Youth on Course, noted the rising costs of youth sports and said the opportunity to play a round for $5 makes golf “more affordable than a lot of other options.”

While golf has earned a reputation for being inaccessible and expensive, these initiatives in Baltimore are lowering the barriers and giving exposure to the sport.

“We see the golf course, but the golf course doesn’t see us,” Johnson added. “Exposing kids to golf for free gives them the opportunity to do something and learn something that they can actually retain.”

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