Author: lross

Dane Bolin, Innovators Forum Project

After attending the national First Tee Innovators Forum, Dane was chalIenged to develop a meaningful service project in their community focused on education, health, human rights, or environmental sustainability. Dane chose to create a supply drive called “Restock The Hope Night” to spread awareness of homelessness in my community. Hear from Dane about his efforts to support Family Promise of Hendrick County: 

“By educating my community about the services available at Family Promise of Hendricks County and collecting donations to help restock their Resource Center, my service project helped homeless families achieve stability and get back on their feet again.”

“I started designing this project in October 2025 and arranged to meet with some families in their “Almost Home” overnight shelter by bringing them a taco-themed dinner. I was able to tour the Resource Center and overnight shelter to gain a better understanding of where families can go to recover from the trauma of homelessness and begin rebuilding their lives. I was also impressed to learn that they offer individualized case management to help the families take the steps to ensure stability on their own. Then, after my collection drive, it really impacted me to unload all of the supplies in the Resource Center and organize the items on the shelves for the families. I learned how many families in my community need everyday essentials, and I was overwhelmed with joy and happiness knowing the impact I’ve made on others.”

Congrats Dane on a job well done!

Eagle Creek Golf Club in Indianapolis hosted the fourth annual Roger Lundy Memorial Championship on July 27th. Fifty-five participants persevered through extreme heat to finish the annual competition with both and individual and regional competition.

Since 2012, Coach Roger Lundy devoted himself wholly to First Tee-Indiana, pouring his time, energy, and passion into the development of young people not only as golfers, but as individuals of character and integrity. Coach Roger worked tirelessly to expand opportunities for our kids and teens. This vision led to the creation of the First Tee State Championship. Coach Roger passed away in 2023 but his legacy and vision lives on in the Roger Lundy Memorial First Tee Championship. Coach Roger would be so proud to see all of the participants who played this year!

Enjoy our Photo Album from the day.

Congrats to all of our top finishers!

Overall medalist

High School Boys — Blayze Chapman — 74, Sullivan Mammolenti —76,

High School Girls — Celia Florkowski — 80, Aleah Miller — 93

Middle School Boys –Kennix Lee —39, Nolan Jahn —41

Middle School Girls — Camley Whitfield — 38, Koey Lee — 41

Team Champions

High School Team Champion — Michiana — 234

High School Team Runner-up — East Central — 259

Middle School Team Champion — Richmond/Orange County — 123

Middle School Team Runner-up — Indianapolis —130

Congrats to Our 2025 Senior Scholarship Winners

On behalf of the Indiana Golf Foundation and the First Tee – Indiana, we are pleased to announce the 2025 First Tee Senior Scholarship winners.  This scholarship is in recognition of dedication and participation in First Tee programming and is sponsored by the PGA TOUR Superstore and its teen retention initiative.

This year’s recipients include Alivia Carlisle, Demi Bolin and Sam Landmesser. Enjoy reading about their experiences at First Tee and their plans for the future below.

Alivia Carlisle

How has First Tee positively impacted your life?

First Tee has not only taught me skills that I apply on the course but also skills I use in my day to day life in school and work. The program has shaped my character, leadership skills, and overall confidence. I learned the value of perseverance, integrity, and respect.

What will you take away from First Tee that will help you in your future?

I have grown into a more confident communicator. The experiences in First Tee have given me the confidence to lead projects on school and even speak at public events.

What would you tell someone who is new to golf and interested in First Tee?

My advice to someone new to golf who is interested in First Tee would be to definitely go into it with an open mind and heart. It’s so much more than just golf you will learn valuable life skills, build confidence, and make life lasting friendships. And don’t stress if you know nothing about golf, that’s what the coaches are there for! Just be open to learning and ask questions.

Demi Bolin

How has First Tee positively impacted your life?

I was given the opportunity to go to Texas and meet other First Tee members and I’m still friends with those people today. I’ve also been given mentors that have helped shape me into the person I am today!

What will you take away from First Tee that will help you in your future?

Through First Tee I’ve learned countless skills that will help me in my future career. I’ve learned how to work with people effectively and treat people with kindness no matter where they come from. Golf isn’t just a sport, it’s an avenue that can lead you into many opportunities and teach you skills for the future. The skills of teamwork and responsibility will have a major impact on the field I want to pursue going into college which is the medical field.
What would you tell someone who is new to golf and interested in First Tee?

I would tell them that they should join and that it will be something that will change their lives. I would let them know the opportunities I have been given as well as the support that I was shown through all my years of being in First Tee. I would tell them that golf isn’t about a score or placement in a tournament but that they should try it out and do it with their friends and family because that brought me a lot of joy and happiness growing up.

Sam Landmesser

How has First Tee positively impacted your life?

First tee has not only enabled me to meet more resources to help get younger kids into golf, but also it has opened doors for me as a player! First tee helped me meet my swing coach of 2 years, Nancy Bender, who has positively impacted both my golf game and my mindset as I have taken lessons with her!

What will you take away from First Tee that will help you in your future?

With First tee, I have learned the importance of putting others first. Through teaching and learning myself, I have learned the value in giving others opportunities and guiding them along the way!

What would you tell someone who is new to golf and interested in First Tee?

First Tee is the best way to not only become a better golfer, but a better person. The people I met through First Tee are irreplaceable! First Tee is the best way to learn life skills while also learning a sport. Golf houses so many values that are taught along your journey through learning the sport, First Tee simply makes all those values accessible to new players.

A Huge Congratulations to Izzy Kornmeyer!

Izzy attended the First Tee Innovators Forum in November and has spent the past few months dedicated to completing her service project — and today, she delivered incredible results!

Thanks to Izzy’s hard work and commitment, the Julian Center received over 700 full-sized hygiene products and a $500 check to help them purchase additional supplies for families in need.

Her compassion and drive truly made a difference for the Julian Center — the largest organization in Indiana supporting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other life crises.

We are so proud of all that Izzy has accomplished. She has not only embodied the values of First Tee but also brought hope and support to countless families.

Way to go, Izzy!

First Tee-Indiana Alumni Zoe Brock was recently award the Louis E Ingelhart Excellence in Strategic Communication Award. It honors a student in Ball State’s School of Strategic Communication and Journalism who has demonstrated outstanding skill in advertising or public relations by effectively promoting brand awareness, understanding the target audience, and achieving specific goals of clients. Brock’s award stemmed from her work with the Richmond location this past summer. She served both as lead coach and social media manager. She submitted a portfolio of the social media promotional work she did for First Tee-Indiana in Richmond. Zoe was Indiana’s second participant to excel to ACE status in 2023. Congrats Zoe!

First Tee-Indiana welcomes Kiselya Salcedo to our team as the Director of Outreach & Women’s Golf. She will be focusing on the development of women’s golf initiatives as well as serving as the administrator for our School and Community Program partners.

Born and raised in Colorado, Kiselya has been an avid golfer for most of her life. She grew up playing any sport she could and ended up loving golf the most. She played college golf at Weber State University, where she met her husband Daniel. They have a dog named Monti and love all things sports and outdoors. Throughout her career she has worked running junior golf tournaments with the Utah Section PGA, organizing amateur events with Washington Golf, being a teaching professional and serving as an assistant college golf coach. She loves the game of golf and is excited to give back to it through the wonderful program at First Tee-Indiana. 

Congratulations to Blayze Chapman for his recent trip to West Creek Ranch in Montana last month for the Leadership Summit hosted by First Tee and PGA TOUR Superstore.

During this weeklong event, teens were encouraged to further develop their existing strengths and values in a close-knit environment that fosters community, inspiration and connection with their peers, adult mentors and the great outdoors.

Blayze recently recapped his week for us:

“My 2 biggest takeaways from the Leadership Summit in Montana were to lead firmly, but empathetically, and to give others the tool for success, but let them learn it on their own. Though I learned many things, what I thought was the most important is that leading is not always loud. Leading is often listening to others’ ideas and input and helping to guide them to make the right decision on their own. I will use what I have learned in many ways, but especially on my golf team given that I have more influence on the culture there than anywhere else in my life. I will do that by making sure that everybody’s ideas are heard and by not being too pushy in the way I lead. I will also help guide them to learn lessons on their own, on and off the course, as opposed to just giving them the answer. If I had to choose the top three things that made this experience so great, it would be the speakers, the ability to relax and reflect in nature, and the other participants. If I had to give a couple reasons to sway someone who may be on the fence for applying, I would tell them to go for the people that they will get to meet. Everybody from the speakers to the chaperones, the participants, the staff, and even the band are extremely kind and you will learn from all of them and create lasting friendships. I would also tell them about all the amazing activities we get to do. On one of the days, we get to learn how to lead, corral, and groom the horses. In doing so, we get to learn how to be confident, but gentle and we learn how to build authentic relationships based on trust. We also got to go white water rafting where we learned how to get out of our comfort zone and how to become more willing to try something new. One of the final things we got to do was a challenge course in which we learned to utilize others’ help. The challenge was to climb a giant rope latter in which the rungs get further as you go up. Most people could get up the first few rungs alone, however the earlier you learn to work with your partner, the easier it was as you went up. Overall, I am extremely grateful for the experience and I have learned so many important lessons I can take back to my community.”

First Tee-Indiana hosted its first Indiana Leadership Day on June 6th at Purdue University. Modeled after First Tee National opportunities, 12 Indiana participants were selected from applications to spend a day interacting with their peers through several leadership activities. Purdue Men’s Golf Coach Andrew Sapp talked with them about improving your mindset for practicing, Athletic Department staff members Paul Leaf and Peyton Stovall brought a team to play games teaching collaboration and how to be a great teammate.

After lunch at the Purdue Memorial Union, the Boilermaker Special mascot train took the group on a tour of campus, taking pictures along the way and stopping at a local favorite ice cream shop. The day ended with practice and nine holes of play on the Ackerman Allen Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.