FarmLinks Golf Club, Sylacauga, Ala., a component of FarmLinks LLC, is home to the First Tee at Pursell Farms—recent club winner of Golf Digests’ 23rd annual Junior-Development Award. The national award, which recognizes a municipality, club, corporation, individual and association for outstanding commitment and contributions to junior golf, comes at an ideal time for FarmLinks with the recent addition of Wes McCarter, FarmLinks’ new coordinator of First Tee.
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McCarter is no newcomer to the game of golf, or to Sylacauga, where he has lived his whole life. He started playing golf at the age of seven and went on to play for Sylacauga High School where he lettered all four years and played in three state tournaments. McCarter is also no stranger to working with kids. He has mentored children through various programs for almost a decade and currently works as the youth director at The First Presbyterian Church of Sylacauga, serving kids from 7th through 12th grade.
McCarter brings a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to FarmLinks and to the First Tee organization. With his love for the game and his passion for working with young people, McCarter is ready and willing to serve in his new position and is looking forward to its continued growth and success.
“With young role models like Tiger Woods leading the way, the game of golf has witnessed a tremendous surge in popularity—especially with children,” McCarter says. “My job as coordinator of First Tee is to build upon this growing popularity and to encourage more volunteers, schools, parents and children to get involved. First Tee is an amazing program and a fun way to introduce kids of all backgrounds to the game of golf. But it’s especially rewarding for me because not only do I get to help these kids with the skills they’ll need to know in golf, I get to help them with skills they’ll need to know in life, skills like honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, confidence and responsibility.”
As one of the first backers of the First Tee program, FarmLinks donates funds and offers its driving range, two practice greens and its championship, 18-hole course as the training grounds for First Tee participants. Under the leadership of David Stinson, FarmLinks’ director of golf, the program currently includes two volunteer golf instructors and 93 children, but the First Tee at Pursell Farms’ team hopes to involve as many newcomers as possible.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to reach out to the surrounding community for this wonderful cause,” McCarter says. “Currently, First Tee has more than 675,000 participants nationwide. My goal is to help our team grow that number by reaching more young people and by building upon the success of FarmLinks’ award-winning program.”