FARMINGTON, N.M. — We’re teeing up some good news as one of 27 national golf grant winners happens to be from New Mexico’s Four Corners region.

First Tee is a nonprofit that teaches life skills to kids and teens through the game of golf. There are chapters across the U.S., including in the Four Corners.

Recently, the United States Golfing Association chose the Four Corners chapter as one of the First Tee grant winners.

According to Thomas Yost, the director of programs with First Tee, this grant will give more people the opportunity to get into the game and get on a golf course for the first time ever.

“To give them the option, to give them more choices. To give them more activities and to say, ‘Hey, this is something I can do that I never knew was even possible.’ That’s really what we’re in the field of trying to do here,” Yost said. “They’re introduced to golf via their physical education, their PE programs. And hitting balls into a field really doesn’t make any sense until they go to a golf course and really see what it’s about.”

These grants focus specifically on helping students who live in under-served communities.

“These population demographic bases just aren’t getting into the game of golf like they should be. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to give them an option in all aspects of their life,” Yost said.

Yost hopes to inform the community on what this program is all about.

“Golf has a lot of barriers, or perceived barriers with expense and access. And those are the barriers that we’re breaking down for these communities,” Yost said.

The First Tee program in the Four Corners will receive the $5,000 grant next spring.