From a P.E. coach who’s devoted to a First Tee curriculum on the Navajo Reservation, and another who is 81 years old and teaches cooking classes at her chapter, to a former PGA Tour player and longtime broadcaster spearheading the development of a highly successful program in Florida, First Tee has announced the recipients of its annual national awards.

In association with Golf Digest, First Tee recognizes the dedicated adults and chapters who are deemed to go above and beyond in their efforts to share their passion for golf and education with kids and teens at 150 chapters in all 50 states. According to the organization, more than 3.3 million youth have been served since 1997.

Here are the recipients of this year’s awards:

Teacher of the Year: Layne Frazier, First Tee-Four Corners

Layne Frazier (middle, blue shirt) poses with his fellow coaches and instructors at the First Tee-Four Corners. (Phoito courtesy of First-Tee Four Corners)

Frazier has been a physical education coach at Eva B. Stokely Elementary in Shiprock, N.M., in the Navajo Nation for the last 16 years, 10 of which he has spent teaching First Tee curriculum. According to Tina Pachecho-White, executive director of the chapter, Frazier “seamlessly modifies lessons to ensure all students, regardless of ability, can participate together.”

A six-time PGA Tour winner and longtime broadcaster for NBC, Koch founded a group of supporters in 2011 to provide critical funding for the chapter. The result was enormous growth over five years that included 75,000 students and 150 public elementary schools.

In 2021, Koch led the effort in the construction of a youth-accessible nine-hole par-3 course at Rogers Park, the home of the Tampa Bay First Tee program. Koch then earned the 2023 Payne Stewart Award from the PGA Tour and donated his award money to First Tee-Tampa Bay.

Coach of the Year: Manny Gallardo, First Tee–Silicon Valley

Manny Gallardo (holding flowers) poses with coaches and students at the First Tee-Silicon Valley. (Photo courtesy of First Tee-Silicon Valley)

This award recognizes a person who “demonstrates and embraces our Coach Building Blocks” that combine golf with the character-building life-skills curriculum. Gallardo has demonstrated that commitment for a dozen years at First Tee-Silicon in California’s Bay Area. Among his contributions are working on resource videos for participants, coordinating golf club donations for participants on financial aid, training other coaches on First Tee’s building blocks, coordinating Girls Golf and pre-season events—all while coaching seven classes each session.

George H.W. Bush Volunteer of the Year: Leslie Kleinman, First Tee-Cleveland

Leslie Kleinman works with studetns in the “Fit to a Tee” program at the First-Tee Cleveland. (Photo courtesy of First Tee-Cleveland)

For the honor that recognizes a volunteer who has demonstrated exceptional service and commitment to participants and staff, this year’s recipient is Leslie Kleinman, who, according to First Tee-Cleveland, has impacted the lives of thousands of area youth over her 20 years, putting in more than 4,500 hours of service. Among the 81-year-old Kleinman’s accomplishments are launching a program titled “Fit to a Tee,” culinary classes that integrate First Tee life skills and values-based curriculum into the kitchen to teach about diverse foods, healthy eating, and the value of service through cooking for the Cleveland Food Bank.

Barbara Douglas & Dr. William J. Powell Diversity Awards

First Tee selected for this honor three chapters that demonstrated “outstanding leadership and commitment to promoting ethnic diversity within the First Tee network, at their chapter and in their community.”

First Tee-Central Coast

Through a collaboration with Peoples Self Help Housing, a nonprofit that supports low-income families, veterans and seniors, First Tee-Central Coast in California and board member Manny Arceo have reached more than 100 new participants from the Latino community. The chapter also has connected with the Latino Outdoors organization, Lilian Larsen School, Girls Inc., and the YMCA to impact an additional 1,000-plus underserved youth through First Tee programming.

First Tee-Florida Gold Coast

First Tee–Florida Gold Coast is admirably diverse, with a membership in 2023 composed of 63 percent of students who were ethnically diverse and 41 percent of whom were female. They were also able to serve 978 students with special needs. The chapter has forged partnerships with the Boys & Girls Club, Police Athletics League, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the YMCA.

First Tee-Central Carolinas

Diversity is at the stated core of First Tee-Central Carolinas mission. Unique to the chapter is an HBCU Summer Golf Internship, where 10 HBCU golfers are given access to unique playing and practice facilities while also gaining real-world experience in running a community non-profit. The chapter continues to spread awareness about the history of golf in their area, and it has commissioned a mural in Gillespie, N.C., of the Greensboro Six—who took their fight to integrate golf courses to the Supreme Court.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com