The First Tee Quad Cities and Rock Island Parks and Recreation are partnering...
The First Tee Quad Cities and Rock Island Parks and
Recreation are partnering to renovate the Highland Springs Driving Range
practice facility and expand junior golf programming.
The
First Tee is a golf program designed to introduce youth to the game of golf
through golf and life skill instruction through the First Tee Nine Core Values:
Honesty, Integrity, Sportsmanship, Respect, Confidence, Responsibility,
Perseverance, Courtesy, and Judgement. The First Tee program at Highland
Springs will give children of all backgrounds access to the game of golf and
the life skills that the sport teaches. Throughout the summer of 2017 over 175
children from Rock Island Parks and Recreation day camps, Martin Luther King
Center day camps, Boys and Girls Club, and more have participated in the
program at Highland Springs.
The
driving range and practice facility at Highland Springs will close on August 1st,
2017 to undergo a major renovation, made possible by funding from the First Tee
Quad Cities. The project will include three target greens on the driving range
that will double as a short-course for the First Tee students to use for the
player assessment portion of the First Tee curriculum. The renovations also
include construction of a chipping hole with a practice sand bunker. This hole
will also be used for the First Tee player assessments. The Driving Range
will reopen in the spring of 2018.
Overall, the project will enable Highland Springs to
expand it's First Tee programming and provide a better overall practice
experience for all users of the Highland Springs driving range and practice
facility. Todd Winter, Assistant Director, says, "The upgraded driving range will offer everyday range users five
target greens and fairways to aim for and a 50 yard short game practice hole
complete with practice sand trap.”
For more information on the project, the First Tee
program, or other programs that Highland Springs offers please contact Todd
Winter at (309)732-2277 or winter.todd@rigov.org.