The First Tee of Greater Sacramento Archives

Hiram Johnson High School — Life & Golf Skills Facility

December 10, 2025 Update

On a very cold Wednesday morning, December 10th, 2025, two of our local Middle Schools planned a field trip for their students that are interested in golf to the Hiram Johnson Life & Golf Skills Facility on campus at Hiram Johnson High School.

These students came from A.M. Winn Middle School in Rancho Cordova and Will C. Wood Middle School from the Lemon Hill area. Each school brought approximately twenty-five students that are interested to see what the game of golf is and will they like to continue it in their future.

We were told that Will C. Wood Middle School has enough interest from their students after attending a previous field trip to start their own golf team in 2026.

In our Greater Sacramento area there are seven Middle Schools that have an interest in creating a golf team where they can compete against each other. This will get these golf students ready to play golf on their High School teams and opportunities to earn College Scholarships in their future.

Mike Firpo, Director of Programs is our Lead Representative from the First Tee – Greater Sacramento. He invited Nathan Oltmanns, Athletic Director from Hiram Johnson High School to join us to discuss how successful the past two years have been and how we can improve into our future. Nathan Oltmanns has hopes in the future to have the First Tee – Greater Sacramento help teach golf during the students assigned physical education classes. The Hiram Johnson High School golf team is already enjoying the opportunity to hold their practices at this beautiful facility.

Thanks to everyone for their support and watch for more updates coming in 2026.

First Tee Funvitational at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex

Haggin Oaks Golf Complex hosted the First Tee Funvitational on June 20. A fun day for Junior/Senior pairings to golf together.

Tom & Evan Morton playing in a 2-person team at this year’s Jr/Sr Funvitational today on MacKenzie Golf Course.  Tom & Evan hope to win the Best Dressed Category wearing MGF logoed shirts proudly.

The Funvitational is an annual event put on each year by First Tee Sacramento. This year was the 32nd iteration of the event and it was hosted at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex on the Alister Mackenzie Course.


Who Is First Tee & Why They Put on the Funvitational


The First Tee is a non-profit youth development organization that enables kids to build the strength of character that empowers them through a lifetime of new challenges. By seamlessly integrating the game of golf with a life skills curriculum, they create active learning experiences that build inner strength, self-confidence, and resilience that kids can carry to everything they do. Their Junior Golf Programs instill fundamental character traits and life skills in youth golfers.

The Funvitational gives an opportunity for their junior golfers to shine even when playing among senior golfers. In addition to being a fun showcase for their junior golfers, the funvitational raises funds that allow First Tee to lead youth development programs. Get involved or read more about First Tee on their website. Thank you to First Tee for serving our community and congratulations on another successful Funvitational!

LIVE from Pebble Beach at The PURE Championship

LIVE from Pebble Beach at PURE Championship

Once a year the PGA Champions TOUR partners with the First Tee juniors from Chapters across the country.

This year, five juniors were selected from the First Tee – Greater Sacramento to play in this event. They were Sahil Nathoo, Abigail Lin, Gianna Singh, Ish Sodhi, Hannah Stouder.

On Saturday they play once again with their chosen PGA Pro hoping to make the cut so they can play again on Sunday.

Every junior player said the same thing when asked if they were having a good week at Pebble Beach, “This is as close as I have been to playing on the PGA TOUR.” They are all living their golf dream.

Theresa Shaw Gets Her First Hole-in-One at The PURE Insurance Championship

Theresa Shaw, Senior at Bear River High School had the opportunity this past September to be one of the lucky chosen by the First Tee to play on TV at the PURE Insurance Championship golf tournament at Pebble Beach.

In a blind draw her Championship Golf Pro was Kevin Sutherland also from Sacramento.

On Thursday, September 22nd, 2022, they were together playing a practice round and Theresa got her first hole-in-one on Hole # 17 of Pebble Beach. Hole # 17 is 135 yards right into the wind and Theresa was using her 8 iron.

Kevin Sutherland, Theresa Shaw, and Kevin’s Caddie, Billy Lewis.

That day Theresa Shaw’s golf game was “on fire”. She shot a 70 for the round.

Congratulations, Theresa!

We wish you many more hole-in-one’s.

Thank you from Morton Golf Foundation Grant Recipient

Nikki Chindavong is a junior golf development grant recipient for the past several years and it has been a joy to watch her development both on and off the course.

Nikki recently sent a thank you letter to the Morton Golf Foundation and we wanted to share it with everyone here. We were touched by the great art and her kind words:

Dear Morton Golf Foundation:

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for believing in me and supporting me from day one. They say, “never forget those who helped you along the way” and I will never forget what this foundation has done for me and the rest of junior golf. Currently, I am on track to play college golf. I am very excited for the future, but before that, I am so grateful for the journey that I have taken to get to this point in life.
This foundation, the First Tee, my Coach Mr. Berg, and my family have been my core building blocks of who I am. I believe that golf is not just a game it’s a lifestyle. I have found that one of my passions in life is golf. Through such as perseverance, respect, integrity and confidence are crucial to life. Through the First Tee, I had the opportunity to play in the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach and the First Tee National Championship at Notre Dame University. These two experiences were not only fun and exciting, but they were truly life changing. At the PURE Insurance Championship, I found a new sense of confidence within myself. I re-learned that good things will come with patience and dedication. In Indiana, at the First Tee National Championship, I learned that we create our own personal wins. I came in 2nd place shooting a 3-day total of -4 (shooting 4 under on the final round) and felt that I played the best golf in my life. I lost the tournament by one stroke after making a bogey on the 16th hole. I walked away from that tournament realizing that as much as I wanted to win, it wasn’t my time yet. I knew that if I continued to work hard and stay persistent, good things would come my way … and it did. A week after this tournament, I was offered to play for the University of Nevada, Reno.
Everything that you see on the front cover makes me who I am, and Morton Golf Foundation is a piece of my core. Again, thank you for being a part of my journey thus far. Playing college golf has always been a goal of mine. It’s one of my major steps in life, but it is not the end. It’s the beginning of a new adventure. Your endless support, guidance, and encouragement have been truly appreciated and will be forever remembered in my heart.
Best Regards,
Nikki Chindavong

We wish you all the luck as you head to play golf at University Nevada Reno!

Morton Golf Foundation Joins County Optimist for the Robla School Giveaway

Morton Golf Foundation, First Tee- Greater Sacramento joined County Club Optimist Club for the Annual Robla School Giveaway.

On Saturday, August 6th at 9:00 a.m. approximately 150 local school children from kindergarten through 6th Grade in the Robla School District joined in the fun for a back-to-school giveaway. What a wonderful way to get the students and families from the surrounding area of Robla School District off to a great start for the coming school year starting August 15th

There were several partners there to make sure the families had school class information. Many volunteers were handing out backpacks filled with school supplies, and healthy and nutritious bags of food and even the school Nurse was on hand to answer any questions.

The fun continued around the school yard as a BBQ lunch was being served along with games and snow cones to get the excitement up for the new school year.

Several of the students received a new pair of PUMA athletic shoes to wear all through the year.

Nothing is better than the safe feeling you have on that first day of School.

31st Annual Junior Senior Funvitational

The 31st annual Junior/Senior FUNVITATIONAL was held at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex on Friday, July 29, 2022.

Every year we gather for the Junior Senior Funvitational when an adult plays golf side-by-side with a junior player.

This is an opportunity that doesn’t happen often throughout the year which is why it is so special.

Morton Golf Foundation is a huge supporter of this event as it involves most of the junior players who are supported by Morton Golf Foundation all year long.

This year, Jack Fidler (2nd of left) was the PROUD recipient of the Marilyn & Bob Hughes Scholarship Award.

Jack will be attending Sierra College this fall and this scholarship will help him meet his college goals.

Thanks again to Marilyn Hughes for presenting this award to Jack Fidler at this year’s luncheon.

Marilyn & Bob Hughes have been volunteers with First Tee – Greater Sacramento for many years.

We are already looking forward to seeing Marilyn again next year at this “fun” event.

Morton Golf Foundation Supports First Tee-Greater Sacramento at Pure Insurance Championship

Morton Golf Foundation was thrilled to support our First Tee of Greater Sacramento Junior Golfers at the PURE Insurance Championship this week.

Nikki Chindavong, Hannah Harrison, Ethan Liu, Ellie Sand & Haley Wong were the 5 talented junior golfers from First Tee -Greater Sacramento chosen to play in the PURE Insurance Championship this week.

The fun began on Tuesday evening at a Pairings Party when they found out which Champions PGA TOUR player they were paired with. Then it was off to practice rounds on both Pebble Beach Golf Links & Spyglass Hill. The first day of the tournament was Friday & Ethan Liu & Nikki Chindavong had tee times at Pebble Beach. One of the most scenic golf courses in the world.

Saturday these juniors play their next round in hopes of being in the Championship foursome on Sunday the final day.

It’s so rewarding to see fans come out to cheer on junior golfers from around the United States.

Check out the fun picture below when Nikki Chindavong was coming off of Hole #3 as Ethen Liu was finishing Hole # 16. The Sacramento cheering section gathered for a group shot with both junior golfers.

Continued good luck to the First Tee – Greater Sacramento junior players on and off the course. We are all very proud of these young adults as they make contacts & friends this week that they will carry on into their future.

Special Honor for Special Olympian Jeremy McCarthy

Jeremy McCarthy of the First Tee California Eagles Group receives Special Olympics Honor

Left to right: Rob Siebers, President Tom Morton, Jeremy McCarthy, Tom Corlett, Kelli Corlett, and Jane Siebers

On Tuesday, August 31st, 2021 Special Olympics of Northern California surprised Jeremy McCarthy and Tom Corlett with an invite to the Special Olympic Games USA in Orlando, FL in June, 2022. The pair has participated in the Northern California Alternate Shot Competition with Special Olympics for the past 10 years.

Jeremy and Tom have a very special bond and have been in each other’s lives for the past 35 years. Jeremy’s mom and Tom’s wife are the closest friends and used to work together.

Jeremy and Tom co-coach one of the groups within the California Eagle Golf Program and have been for the past 11 years. The two make quite a pair and we could not be more happy and proud of them!

Jeremy began his golf career at the age of 6 with lessons from Golf Professional Dick McShane at Haggin Oaks.

Thank You from an MGF Junior Golf Grant Winner

Nikki Chindavong has been receiving a junior golf development grant for the past four years and it has been great to see her grow in both her personality and in her golf game.

Scott Smith and Nikki Chindavong at the 2020 Jr/Sr Funvitational

A few months ago, the Morton Golf Foundation connected Nikki with Scott Smith to play in the Jr/Sr Funvitational on July 31, 2020, at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex. Scott purchased matching shirts for their team (which is a tournament tradition) and the two of them spent a fun day on the golf course for this event sponsored by The First Tee of Greater Sacramento. This duo shot a score of 11 under gross, 16 under net. That day Scott and Nikki bonded through golf and we are sure there will be another match set up for the two of these golfers to play together again soon.

Nikki recently sent a thank you letter to the Morton Golf Foundation and we wanted to share it with everyone here. We were touched by the great art and her kind words:

Nikki Chindavong Thank You to the Morton Golf Foundation

“Dear Morton Golf Foundation,

Thank you for everything you do for junior golf. Your endless support and positivity has motivated me through these tough times! The year of 2020 has brought lots of surprises and changes to our lives, however, the Morton Golf Foundation has still tried to make this the best year ever!! I am so excited for the future and to see things go back to “normal”. Thank you for your continuous support 🙂

Best regards,

Nikki Chindavong”