Earl Woods, the First Tee and a Child’s First Steps Into Golf

Jeff Ritter and his son have begun playing golf together, enjoying the local First Tee chapter while stirring thoughts of one of the game’s most famous father-son combinations.

It’s been a busy season of golf news. LIV Golf, ball rollbacks, the majors. Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods. When I shut down the laptop, I find myself thinking less about the headlines or about Tiger, but my mind does occasionally drift to Woods’s late father, Earl.

My five-year-old son, Leo, and I have begun hitting the driving range near our home here in San Antonio. Our spot has plastic mats and automated tees that disappear under the rug and reappear with a ball in place. Leo loves that. He also digs watching his ball take flight, worm-burn along the grass or follow any other flight path he can create with his U.S. Kids driver and mid-iron. Leo is bright, outgoing, and always – always – curious. The range sessions sparked a flurry of questions. “What’s a grip? Why does this club go farther? Who cleans the golf balls? Why are the balls different colors? Why is everyone quiet?”

That last query presented a dilemma. Adult golfers love to post up in their stalls and swing in solitude, but Leo was disoriented. Golf was fun. Why wasn’t anyone else having a good time? To add something new to our golf mix, we signed up for the First Tee of San Antonio’s class for 5- and 6-year-olds, fittingly called “Tiny Tigers.”

On Saturday mornings for the past six weeks, about 20 kids arrived with their parents and their miniature golf bags and gear. Coaches kicked things off with a warmup, usually jumping jacks and stretches. Then Marissa Rodriguez, a college senior and the lead coach, slipped onto her fist a Tiger driver headcover that suspiciously resembled Woods’s famed “Frank.” The First Tee version is named “Chip,” with each letter representing a golf value that would be emphasized: Courtesy, Honesty, Integrity and Perseverance. Marissa played high school golf and is finishing her degree to be an elementary school teacher. She’s unflinchingly patient while somehow commanding large groups of kids. “Five is my favorite age,” she says. “This is all good practice for me.” Her future kindergartners will be in good hands.

First Tee students typically paired up for chipping, putting, or range drills. Leo made new friends. Parents chilled out in the background and got to know each other. Good times.

Back to Earl Woods. You know the stories, right? It’s all part of the Tiger Woods mythmaking. Earl said he wanted to “let the legend grow,” and he tapped into his background as a green beret while using old-school military techniques to not only groove his son’s swing, but also steel his psyche for high-level competition and life in the limelight. He’d rattle car keys and blurt insults in his son’s backswing, read him the riot act if he didn’t give his best effort and conduct mock interview sessions to train Tiger to keep his responses succinct.

I read these things in the 1990s and 2000s and they stayed with me all these years.

Today I ignore all of it with my own Tiny Tiger.

It’s not personal – I’m certain Earl did what he did with love in his heart, and hey, his son became one of golf's all-time greats. But I have not uttered invectives or jangled loose change during Leo’s backswings. I do, however, occasionally dangle the possibility of a post-practice donut. At the range I was able to nudge Leo into a basic golf grip and stance, but First Tee coaching and playing alongside similar-aged kids helped him progress to where he now looks like a little golfer with a club in his hands.

Golf participation spiked during the pandemic, and today the First Tee and its 150 global chapters, including the San Antonio group, continue to ride that wave. “Golf is booming, and San Antonio is a great golf city,” says Carrie Kimbell, CEO of the First Tee of San Antonio. In early 2020 the Alamo City had 600 students enrolled in its various programs. Today there are more than 1,500.

“My mission is to expose as many kids to golf as I can for their whole life,” Kimbell says. “The character traits it provides are important – mental health, getting outside, no screens. We want to break the barriers and open up golf for everyone.”

As the spring sessions continued, Leo’s enthusiasm for golf exploded. Eventually he ended a First Tee class with a question any father would cherish:

“Dad, can I practice more?”

So began the tradition of a post-class range bucket. Then a burrito at a picnic table, where he’d watch other kids hit shots, then another bucket. I have this idea that kids are born with a sort of “program” that in many ways can’t be altered, only sculpted around the edges. In Leo’s case, his curiosity and engaging personality were already there. He loves numbers and math, which certainly didn’t come from me or my wife. But I may have – possibly – helped him become the lefty he is today by dropping his rattle in his offhand in the early days, or hooked him on the classic rock music we blast while flipping pancakes. But golf? It feels like a light, fun environment is key, and the First Tee has nailed it. I have no idea where Leo’s golf journey might lead but there’s no need to sweat that today – I’m just happy we’re here.

The Ritter father-son team

Our six-week session ended on a glorious sunny morning, where we ripped a page out of the Woods playbook: scripting. I had recently returned with swag from the Masters and couldn’t resist rolling into the final session in matching polos and hats. I can see why Tiger does this with his son, Charlie, when they play the Father-Son exhibition together. We drew a few chuckles from the parents, but we also felt like a team.

Tiny Tigers class is now off for the summer – too dang hot down here – so we’ll head back to our range on cool weekend mornings, where I’ll continue to ignore all of Earl Woods’s old training tricks. We’ll sign up for the First Tee again this fall. And Leo’s rambunctious little brother, Antonio, is already chattering about golf and wielding a putter. Soon he’ll be ready for the range.

Let the legends grow.