Paula Pierrefoy, junior golf director for the City and County of Denver and CEO of First Tee Colorado Rocky Mountains, told the mayor and Denver City Council that First Tee’s junior golf and life-skills programs have served more than 93,000 children and now reach about 12,000 participants each year, with roughly 9,000 attending at free or reduced cost.

Pierrefoy outlined two main program strands. On-course programs operate at Denver’s municipal golf courses; they charge fees but “no participant is ever turned away for the inability to pay,” she said. In-school and after-school programs are free to schools and families and include the Reading Swing literacy program and a club-building curriculum that integrates math and science and results in participants receiving custom-fit golf clubs.

The organization also builds leadership skills and pathways to higher education. Pierrefoy said First Tee Colorado Rocky Mountains has helped participants obtain 71 college scholarships and hires more than 100 junior coaches aged 14 to 18; the program maintains a typical instructor-to-student ratio of about 1 to 2 or 3. She said the chapter is the second-largest among more than 150 chapters and has four junior-only golf courses where adults may play only when accompanying a child.

Councilmember Paul Cashman of District 6 praised the program’s life-skills focus and asked how parents can find it. “A general Google search for junior golf will pop up first,” Pierrefoy said, and she noted contact information and sign-up options are on the chapter’s website.

Councilmember Daryl Watson of District 9 described a local pathway from First Tee programs at Willis Case Golf Course to high-school teams, and councilmembers discussed gaps in exposure and access, especially for girls and students at Title I schools. Councilmember Lawson offered communications help, saying, “If you have newsletter ready, information for First Tee, I would love to put it in our newsletter,” noting his district newsletter reaches about 8,000 residents.

Pierrefoy said First Tee’s 2030 strategic plan aims to expand service to every child in its service area with emphasis on children with disabilities, children who are homeless, and those outside traditional education institutions. She said the chapter works with partners including Denver Golf, the Sims Viola Foundation and Cobbled Streets, and that Denver Golf covers many core nonprofit costs, allowing about 80 cents of every dollar raised to go directly to youth programming.

No formal council action, vote or directive was taken during the presentation; the session was a briefing and council members offered outreach and communications assistance. The council did not adopt or change policy during the item.

For more information, Pierrefoy directed interested families and schools to the chapter website, FirstTeeColoradoRockyMountains.org, and to contact the organization for registration and partnership inquiries.