A first for First Green in San Antonio

Miriam Roberts gets it.

She was among 115 fifth graders from Boone Elementary School on the north side of San Antonio who participated today in the First Green Workshop at Brackenridge Park Golf Course. The Golf Industry Show incorporated it into GIS for the first time ever.

First Green, whose mission is to support environmental education, illustrate the environmental and community benefits of golf courses and introduce potential golfers to golf courses, estimate that at least 80 percent of students who have been involved in the program never had stepped foot onto a golf course until they were part of a First Green outing.

Although she doesn't fall into that majority, it didn't take long today for Roberts to get a handle on what golf course management can contribute to the industry.

"I've been on a golf course before," Roberts said."I always thought grass at the course is pretty. I didn't know they put so much work into it."

First Green, which was established in 1997 and counts the USGA as one of its STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) grant sponsors, features hands-on learning experiences at golf courses for students grade five to 12. There, at courses which they use as laboratories, students learn about soil, the importance of water, environmental components of a golf course and many, many other aspects about it. The idea is to have fun and learn.

Their motto: First Green. Links as Labs.

Since its inception, First Green has touched thousands of lives. Most of those have been in the Pacific Northwest, where the program began. The dream for Karen Armstead, executive director of the First Green, is to spread the word and bring the program to the entire country. A few dozen superintendents from throughout the nation, including California and New York that are here for GIS, participated in today's proceedings.

"We'd like local (GCSAA) chapters to take the lead," said Armstead, who wrote the proposal to help make this possible at GIS, and she really wants to see it become an annual event. "We hope those who were here today go back to their field reps and this spreads within their state."

Ideally, students spend about 90 minutes at the golf course for their field trip. Today, they learned about soil, silt and clay, courtesy of a presentation by GCSAA field staff representative David Phipps (pictured on the left). They also were taught about how superintendents use math in a variety of ways, including area measurements. Students learned what is a square foot, how to calculate the area of a rectangle and what a Stimpmeter is used for.

They also got to putt on one of the greens, even though rather chilly conditions meant they were bundled up. Hot chocolate was a welcomed treat.

It didn't take long for one of their teachers, Molly O'Regan, to give First Green high marks.

"The big selling point is math and science," O'Regan said. "They're learning a golf course isn't just about swinging a club. They're learning what's behind the scenes."

Superintendent Justin Buhler of The Golf Club at Middle Bay in Oceanside, N.Y., did not waste time sending images he took from today's affair to his boss. It sounds as if Buhler's employer likes what it has seen and heard from him about First Green.

'We want to get a group (of youths) in before school's out. If not then, sometime this fall," Buhler says. "We (golf courses) sometimes get a real black eye. People don't always realize that we are as good for the environment as we really are." 

One of the students today at Brackenridge GC suddenly has a new interest. First Green brought it to the surface.

"This is cool. I want to play golf," says fifth-grader Brendan Takach.