About us

The First Tee® of East Lake is a year-round golf instruction and mentoring program of the East Lake Foundation  that uses the principles of golf – discipline, hard work and integrity – to enhance the academic achievement and life skills of youth in Atlanta’s East Lake neighborhood. 

Golf also helps open doors to college scholarships, business connections and jobs. The initiative provides young people of all backgrounds an opportunity to develop life-enhancing values such as honesty and sportsmanship through golf and character education. More than 1,200 East Lake children have participated in the golf program since 1998.

Our participants play at the public, 9-hole, Charlie Yates Golf Course  and participate in summer and Saturday programs and golf outings with corporate executives and professional golfers. A team of junior golfers participate in golf tournaments around the country and in Bermuda thanks to donations by Delta Air Lines for air travel, Oxford Industries, Inc., for golf attire, Nalley Automotive for van transportation, and Microtel Inns and Suites for hotel accommodations.  See Partners and Sponsors for a complete list of supporters. Students in grades 2-8 who attend East Lake’s K-8 Drew Charter School, receive free golf instruction. East Lake youth not only learn how to play golf through physical education classes and golf-related activities, but also enhance their literacy skills by reading about golf in the Drew library’s Golf Reading Corner, featuring hundreds of donated golf books and periodicals. For more information, please visit www.eastlakefoundation.org.

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