For several days last month, the eyes of the golf world were fixed on East Lake, home to the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola as the sport's luminaries played at the East Lake Golf Club.
But across the street, at the neighboring , Nyre Williams is building golf champions of tomorrow.
Williams, director of the First Tee of East Lake, teaches kids from the East Lake community how to play the game.
First Tee, a year-round proram sponsored by the East Lake Foundation, aims not only to expose kids to golf but the lessons it teaches, such as respect, perseverance and honesty.
"Our goal is to make sure these kids have some life skills that can help them succeed in life," said Williams, who has been teaching golf for 10 years and joined East Lake .
In all, there are nine core values First Tee tries to instill in the children who participate in the program.
"The First Tee is more than just a game,"Wlliams said. "I like to look at it as a youth development program. Our our job here is to teach kids those nine core values that come along with golf."
