First Tee Week is back. The national campaign — running today, May 23 through May 30 — turns the spotlight on the often-unseen coaches who use golf to shape character, confidence and life skills in young people. The 2026 edition adopts a single rallying theme: “Dear Coach.”
What Happened
First Tee — the youth golf development organization founded in 1997 — announced that First Tee Week 2026 will run from May 23 to May 30 across its 150 local chapters. The campaign is framed around a single message of thanks: a “Dear Coach” tribute to the coaches who shepherd more than 3.5 million First Tee participants annually through golf and character-building curriculum.
The week’s centerpiece event is in Fort Worth, Texas, coinciding with the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club. CBS Sports lead golf voice Jim Nantz — a long-time First Tee Honorary Chair — will moderate an on-stage conversation with three First Tee alumni about how their coaches shaped their paths on and off the course.
Alongside the main event, all 150 First Tee chapters will run local “Dear Coach” storytelling and recognition events through the week. First Tee is also using the moment to launch a new Donor Ambassador program, a monthly-giving initiative aimed at supporters who want a recurring relationship with their local chapter or with First Tee headquarters.
Why It Matters
First Tee Week is a marketing campaign, but the underlying program is one of the most consequential pipelines in American golf. First Tee chapters operate in all 50 states, on more than 1,400 affiliated golf courses, military installations and elementary schools. The organization estimates that nearly 25% of its alumni go on to play golf at the college level, and a meaningful percentage become PGA professionals, coaches, or industry leaders themselves.
For a sport that has spent the past two decades wrestling with declining participation, an aging player base, and access challenges, First Tee is the largest and most visible structured pathway for new juniors into the game. The “Dear Coach” framing is the organization saying out loud what every junior pathway eventually realizes: the limiting factor isn’t equipment, course access, or rules — it’s the adult who shows up week after week.
Honorary Chair Jim Nantz has been associated with First Tee for more than 20 years; his Fort Worth event sits inside Charles Schwab Challenge week deliberately, to braid First Tee’s grassroots story into a PGA Tour week with maximum national coverage.
Inside The “Dear Coach” Theme
Past First Tee Week themes have leaned aspirational — “Game Changers,” “Open To All.” The 2026 theme is quieter and more direct. Chapters are encouraging participants and alumni to write actual letters, post short videos, or simply name the coach who made a difference. Several chapters will livestream alumni reading “Dear Coach” letters on May 27 and 28.
The Donor Ambassador program rolls out alongside the campaign. Supporters can sign up to give monthly to either First Tee headquarters or a specific chapter, and receive recognition, mission-update emails, and access to invite-only ambassador events. First Tee says monthly giving has been the fastest-growing donor segment over the past three years and that the new program formalises what was already happening informally.
What This Means For You
If you are a recreational golfer who hasn’t engaged with First Tee since its early days, the week is a low-friction entry point. There are a few specific ways to participate that don’t require a check.
Find your local chapter. Every U.S. metro area now sits within range of a chapter. The First Tee main site has a chapter locator; most chapters host an open day during First Tee Week, and many actively recruit volunteer coaches and “swing buddies” — non-coaching adults who help with logistics and group dynamics.
Write a “Dear Coach” letter — to your own coach. The campaign is built around alumni acknowledging mentors, but the broader spirit applies. If you took up golf because someone — a parent, a teaching pro, a club mate, a junior coach — gave you time and patience, this is a useful nudge to actually thank them. Even a one-paragraph email lands.
If you have kids in golf, audit the coach, not just the curriculum. Whether your child is in a First Tee chapter, a country-club junior program, or working with an independent teaching pro, the relationship matters more than the technical content. First Tee’s research has consistently shown that program length and coach continuity are the two biggest predictors of whether a junior sticks with the game past age 14. If you want to start them on the right swing fundamentals at home, our teach your kids golf guide walks through what a beginner-friendly home setup looks like.
For coaches and aspirational coaches: First Tee’s coach certification is available to volunteers as well as professionals, and chapters generally cover the cost. If you’ve been thinking about coaching, this week is when chapters will be loudest about open volunteer slots.
Key Takeaways
First Tee Week 2026 runs May 23–30 across 150 chapters under the “Dear Coach” banner — a deliberate pivot from past aspirational themes toward direct thanks for the adults who keep junior programs running. The Fort Worth alumni event with Jim Nantz, set inside Charles Schwab Challenge week at Colonial Country Club, is the campaign’s flagship moment.
The new First Tee Donor Ambassador program turns monthly giving into a formal commitment tier. For everyday golfers, the most useful move is the one that doesn’t require money — find your local chapter, thank your own coach, or audit how a junior in your life is being coached. The organization that turned 3.5 million kids into golfers each year is, by its own admission, only as strong as the adult who shows up week after week.
