The Tee Divas and Tee Dudes (TDTD) Golf Club prides itself in cultivating the next generation of golfers. Their TDTD Junior Golf Program has been enhancing the skills of young golfers of color on the golf course and beyond.
A major asset for TDTD is their variety of partnerships that allows youth involvement in tournaments, academic and athletic scholarships, and access to golf apparel. Their partners include the Southern California Golf Association (SCGA), Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) and PlayCollegeGolf.net.
In collaboration with the Inland Golf Academy (IGA), TDTD had the Junior PGA League for youth from four to 17 years old. Training sessions exposes youth to the United States Golf Association (USGA) rules and golf etiquette.
“It’s a two-person team type event but it helps introduce kids to competition at a relaxed level with your friends,” said TDTD Junior Golf Program Chair Jenny Bethune. “You make a mistake, your partner picks up and helps out.”
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High school graduates Nayani Lewis, Luke Johnson and Michael Johnson received renewable four-year scholarships form the Southern California Golf Association (SCGA). Luke is currently attending UCLA and had been with TDTD for four years.
“[Bethune] and all the other ladies have been around me, been supporting for a long time. I love them all to death,” Luke said. “[Bethune] got me into tournaments, put in a good word to get me into events.”
Lewis now plays golf for the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore with a golf and academic scholarship.
“After we got out of the quarantine and I was feeling really lost regarding my educational goals and golf,” Lewis said. “Coming back and being able to play with other junior just made that spark.”
Michael Johnson is a student at Loyola Marymount. He helped the Saint Monica High school boys golf team win their league title.
“They provided me all the opportunities and tools and everything necessary for me to learn the game, whether it was teachers, whether it was equipment,” Michael said. “[Bethune] and everyone else involved was feeding us these opportunities.”
Charles Watts earned a golf scholarship from Southern University with the help of a partnership TDTD has with PlayCollegeGolf.net.
“[TDTD] introduced me to playing with other golfers in this area,” Watts said. “It got me playing with people I’ll be playing against in college too.”
This past summer, the SCGA invited the TDTD juniors to the LA Country Club to meet and play with Collin Morikawa. They also visited the Bel Air Country Club.
TDTD host Player Development Tournaments for the junior golfers to compete with their Club members. The Juniors got an opportunity to compete in the Mack Champ Invitational, a tournament hosted by the Cameron Champ Foundation.
“Our kids have been able to travel for the first time going out of state to the Mack Champ,” Bethune said. “By participating in [Champ’s] tournament, he provides exemptions to other tournaments.”
For all the things TDTD done to help Kourey Patterson become a golfer at Alabama A&M University, he looks forward to paying it forward through the Club.
“I came a long way and they really helped me get to this point,” Patterson said. “I plan on giving back to them once I get out and get on tour.”
