Luha Lee loves to take a big swing with the driver.
"I like it cause it can go far," says Lee, eight, who was taking part in the First Tee Ontario (FTO) golf clinic Saturday at East Park Golf in London, Ont.
Lee was one of a dozen children signed up for the program which is a joint effort between RBC and Golf Canada.
It gives children of different socioeconomic backgrounds a chance to play the sport.
"It’s a really great part of it," says Minah Han, Luha’s mom.
"He has met other people, had some fun and learned about golfing. He really enjoyed his time today."
The goal is for Golf Canada to break down barriers, which may restrict kids from enjoying the sport.
"These kids don’t have to come with any clubs, they don’t have to have any equipment, they can come in gym clothes," says Kyarra Hasmatali, the FTO coordinator representative from Golf Canada.
"It’s just for them to be introduced to the sport. We are trying to get into low income and equity deserving communities and try to introduce some to the sport of golf."
The London program is one of 30 across the country. It’s being handled by Dave Heald, a compassionate instructor who has worked at East Park for the past 18 years.
"We talking golf, but also about buddying up, making friends sharing and being patient," says Heald.
"Life skills that don't seem like much but if you carry them forward in life you become a pretty good person too."
In the first of four sessions, the learned the basics of making contact with the ball, but also things like being safe around those with a club in their hand.
Heald is a certified FTO instructor, but admits he doesn’t know much about the personal situations of those taking part in the camp.
"I do know that otherwise some of the people might not have been able to be here without the First Tee program, and that's wonderful because golf is for everybody," says Heald.
