More Than a Game

How First Tee Los Angeles’ LPGA Girls Golf Program Is Building Character, Confidence, and Future Leaders

By Taulene Kagan

On a warm July morning at Chester Washington Golf Course, more than 30 girls gathered for First Tee Los Angeles’ sold-out LPGA Girls Golf Summer Camp. Some arrived with experience from First Tee clinics and classes. Others were picking up a club for the first time.

By week’s end, every participant had learned something about golf—and, more importantly, something about herself.

That transformation was central to the camp’s design. While golf provided the setting, the week also encouraged participants to develop leadership skills, form meaningful friendships, embrace challenges, and recognize strengths they may not have known they possessed.

Today, more girls than ever are discovering the game. According to the National Golf Foundation, more than 8.1 million women and girls played golf in the United States in 2025—a record high and a 45 percent increase since 2020. Nearly four million juniors now play nationwide, with girls representing approximately 35 percent of all junior golfers.

For LPGA Hall of Famer Amy Alcott, honorary chair of First Tee Los Angeles’ LPGA Girls Golf Club, those numbers represent far more than participation.

“The future of golf depends on creating opportunities for every young person to discover the game,” Alcott says. “Watching these girls build confidence and leadership through First Tee LA and LPGA Girls Golf is exactly how we continue to grow the sport.”

Photo: Amy Alcott with First Tee Lost Angeles' LPGA Girls Golf

Programs like First Tee Los Angeles’ LPGA Girls Golf are helping make that future possible by creating welcoming, supportive environments where participants of all ages and skill levels feel seen, encouraged, and included from the moment they arrive.

That sense of belonging did not happen by accident.

Heather Medina, First Tee Los Angeles’ program director and LPGA Girls Golf site director, designed the week by weaving together LPGA Girls Golf’s Five E’s—Empower, Enrich, Engage, Exercise, and Energize—with First Tee’s nationally recognized youth development curriculum.

Each day balanced golf instruction with guided journaling, age-appropriate workbooks, leadership discussions, team-building activities, and personal reflection. Whether celebrating a well-struck shot, encouraging a teammate after a difficult hole, or writing about a personal goal, campers practiced skills that applied both on and off the course.

“Our goal was to create an experience where every girl felt welcomed, encouraged, and excited to come back each day,” Medina says. “Golf was the vehicle, but every activity was intentionally designed to help girls build confidence, connect, and recognize the strengths they already have within themselves. If they leave camp believing they’re capable of more than they thought when they arrived, we’ve done our job.”

Unlike traditional junior golf instruction, LPGA Girls Golf was created around the ways girls learn, connect, and grow. Its Five E’s promote healthy lifestyles, positive female mentorship, strong peer relationships, and an environment where each participant feels comfortable finding her voice.

First Tee Los Angeles reinforces those principles through its research-based curriculum, which emphasizes pursuing goals, growing through challenges, collaborating with others, building a positive self-identity, and using good judgment. Together, the two programs use golf as a catalyst for resilience, integrity, and leadership.

The popularity of this summer’s camp reflects a broader demand for programs that develop the whole child. First Tee Los Angeles now serves more than 700 young people annually, with summer programming reaching capacity—and, in some cases, generating waitlists—as families seek activities that combine athletics with personal development.

“The strength of First Tee LA’s LPGA Girls Golf is that every lesson is about more than a golf swing,” says Dr. Katherine Bihr, president of First Tee Los Angeles. “When you combine LPGA Girls Golf Five E’s with First Tee’s youth development curriculum, girls build confidence, leadership skills, and healthy habits while being supported by a community that believes in them. That’s the true measure of success. We’re especially grateful to East West Bank and She Who Golfs for investing in a future where every young woman has the opportunity to thrive through and beyond the game.”

That impact is perhaps best illustrated by Sarah, an eLeader and PGA Jr. Coach.

Only a few years ago, Sarah participated in First Tee Los Angeles programs, learning the fundamentals of golf while developing greater self-assurance. This summer, she returned as an LPGA Girls Golf eLeader and PGA Jr. Coach, guiding younger campers through many of the same lessons that influenced her own development.

Photo: Sarah with fellow eLeader Chrissy

Her accomplishments have also extended beyond Los Angeles. This year, Sarah was selected to represent First Tee Los Angeles at the The Indigo & Gopher Matches, a national event recognizing promising young golfers—an exclusive, Ryder Cup-style youth golf event created through a partnership between Stephen Curry’s Underrated Golf and First Tee. It brings together 24 junior golfers (12 from Underrated Golf and 12 from First Tee) to play as one unified team at the private Ohoopee Match Club in Cobbtown, Georgia. During camp, however, her attention remained on the younger participants—offering reassurance after a difficult shot, celebrating small victories, and helping newcomers feel welcome from the first day.

Sarah’s progression reflects one of the program’s greatest strengths: creating a pathway from participation to leadership. Younger campers do not learn only from adult coaches. They also see teenagers who once faced similar challenges, developed their abilities over time, and returned to help others succeed.

Some of this summer’s campers will continue playing recreationally. Others may compete in high school or college, and a few may even pursue the game professionally.

But perhaps the program’s greatest success will not be measured by trophies or tournament results.

It will be measured years from now, when today’s campers return—not as students, but as mentors—ready to encourage another young person taking her first steps in the game.

That is the lasting legacy First Tee Los Angeles and LPGA Girls Golf are building: stronger golfers, capable leaders, and future game-changers.