By Doug Milne,
Sanderson Farms Championship Correspondent

While Mondays during a PGA TOUR season typically serve as travel days for many players to make their way from one event to the next, this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship Monday served as anything but business as usual.

In addition to the Sanderson Farms Championship’s loyal and unwavering support of First Tee Central Mississippi on a financial level, on Monday at The Country Club of Jackson, the event featured a First Tee clinic that delivered instruction, fun and – best of all – confidence to the chapter’s contingent of big dreamers.

With upwards of 100 First Tee kids from 47 Central Mississippi partnering schools on site for the morning outing, those hopes and dreams soared in as many different directions as balls the little whippersnappers had the opportunity to hit.

“I can’t emphasize enough how many doors the game of golf opened for me,” said Brooks Baldwin, a 15-year long-drive driving professional, now working for Club Car within the industry and regular provider of First Tee instruction. “I grew up in Mississippi and have to say that without this game, I wouldn’t have ever gotten as far as I have. These First Tee kids out here today are learning about integrity, companionship and how to compete. The game of golf teaches all the important facets of life.”

“For these kids to have the chance to be out here for this at the Sanderson Farms Championship this week will hopefully get their attention and entice them to keep playing as they get older,” said Greg Biggs, First Tee Central Mississippi Golf Coach.

Following an attention-getting long-drive demonstration by Baldwin, which included everything from teeing off on his knees to hitting a drive through a watermelon, First Tee participants had the unique opportunity to run the gamut of shots required via different practice stations.

“It’s nothing short of inspiring to see and hear the levels of excitement this event brings to the hearts and minds of kids who attend this clinic each year at the Sanderson Farms Championship,” said Margo Coleman, Executive Director, First Tee Central Mississippi. “We have First Tee schools that come out to the Sanderson Farms Championship for a field trip each year, where they get to experience the tournament from an ‘inside the ropes’ perspective.”

Coleman has been in her position with First Tee since 2019, following a nearly two-decade long career with the Mississippi Golf Association. There are 47 schools in Central Mississippi which partner with the First Tee program.

“This kind of thing here today at the Sanderson Farms Championship is my favorite thing to do,” Baldwin said. “It is so fun to see the kids get so engaged with – and excited about – golf, as well as just being outside and doing things they’ve never had the chance to do before. These kids will absolutely go home, tell their parents all about being out here today, seeing the pros and getting to hit balls. It’s just so fun and heartwarming to see all the smiles on their faces out here for this special morning.”

“We are just so grateful for this event,” Biggs added. “The Sanderson Farms Championship helps us with funding, which we are so thankful for. This tournament has done so much for junior golf, and we are so, so grateful for it. The Sanderson Farms Championship has done so much for us….it’s as simple as that.”

In addition to a clinic from long-drive champion Brooks Baldwin, the kids had First Tee activity stations, where they got to experience full swing practice, complete with chipping and putting stations.

“What the Sanderson Farms Championship does with things like this is absolutely amazing, because we just don’t have a golf background in our family,” said Rachael Shotts, mother of First Tee Central Mississippi member, Christian Shoots. “We just wouldn’t get to see this part of life and the world if it wasn’t for programs like First Tee and events like the Sanderson Farms Championship.”

And, now, because of First Tee Central Mississippi and the support it receives from the Sanderson Farms Championship, Christian may very well one day be one of those TOUR members making his way from one event to the next.