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On Course For The Future

JIM REED/The Tampa Tribune

Franklin Middle students get golf instruction from teacher Sean Farrell, left, during an after school program. The school is starting the first golf academy in Hillsborough County. About 18 East Tampa students are learning how to play the game. To boost interest the school will hold a tournament Nov. 17 at Heritage Harbor Golf Club.

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By KATHY STEELE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 3, 2007

Additional Photos

EAST TAMPA - There's a bit of competition that drives Franklin Middle's sixth- and seventh-graders when they tee-up on a driving range.

"We see who hits the ball the furthest," said Demetrius Mosley, 14, who has sent a golf ball flying down the fairway some 220 yards with ease.

Bernard Bryant, 13, has hit four greens in regulation play.

"I'd like to be the next Tiger Woods," he said.

They are among about 18 students enrolled in Franklin Middle Magnet School's golf academy. The new program grew from last year's after-school offerings, which included golf along with activities such as dance and fast math challenges.

Some students paid close attention to sixth-grade teacher Sean Farrell as he showed them how to hit lightweight "almost" golf balls.

"I just wanted to take a club and swing it," said 12-year-old Javanta Turner.

He got his wish first in the after-school program and now in the classroom.

Javanta and others listen at their desks as Farrell - who has applied for U.S. Golf Association certification - instructs them on the rules and etiquette of the more than 500-year-old game. Its modern popularity is traced to Scotland, where The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers was formed in 1744.

Woods is the students' role model, though other players also grab their attention - Stuart Appleby, Vijay Singh and John Daly.

Woods' golfing videos give them a chance to play simulated golf and learn golf terms - fairway, par, birdie and eagle. It's not just fun, Farrell said.

"The game would be hard to explain without visuals," he said.

On a recent afternoon, students were outside swinging irons and drivers, digging up divots and sending their almost golf balls sailing into the trees and across the school's front lawn.

A practice area - about 100 yards long - behind the school could be ready soon.

On some days, students head to Rogers Park Golf Course off 30th Street to practice on the driving range or putting green. As students show they have the skills, their reward will be teeing off on the nine-hole course.

Rogers holds a special place among Tampa's historically black neighborhoods. During segregation, the park and its golf course were the only places blacks could gather for picnics or to play golf.

Golfing costs can put the sport off-limits to some at Franklin Middle, 3915 21st Ave., where nearly 90 percent of youngsters qualify for free meals.

Most of the students had never swung a club before Farrell's after-school instructions.

"They don't have the opportunities that some other people might have," Farrell said.

He and others have donated clubs and golf shirts.

"They know we're here for them," he said.

Twenty-five golf bags and clubs are on order for the academy, which also has support from area golf shops and a coach from Jennings Middle School. Rogers Park makes golf balls available at a discount.

The First Tee of Tampa Bay also is providing support as the golf academy gets up and running. The group is an affiliate of a national organization that provides golf instruction, camps and tournaments for boys and girls.

Expanding golf's accessibility "really is the focus of First Tee," Franklin Principal Joseph Brown said.

"I think once parents realize their child can get golf instruction for up to four hours a day, it will be a real attractor," Brown said.

The school, which also offers magnet programs for law studies and public service, plans to market the golf academy countywide and boost enrollment to as many as 50 students by next year.

There are benefits down the road in potential college scholarships, Farrell said.

Kemar Keddo, 13, hopes a scholarship might be in his future. But there also is a team spirit that he appreciates.

When someone makes a mistake, he said, "You don't disappoint and bring them down."

"It teaches you discipline," said 12-year-old Austin Lindsey.

Both are lessons worth learning, Farrell said.

SWINGING FOR SCHOOL

WHAT: Golf tournament - 18-hole, best-ball scramble - to benefit Franklin Middle Magnet School

WHERE: Heritage Harbor Golf Club, 4101 Lutz-Lake Fern Road

WHEN: Nov. 17; shotgun start at 1 p.m.

COST: $65 a person; $260 for a team of four; $500 for hole sponsorship, includes foursome; reservations by Nov. 14

INFORMATION: Contact Franklin Middle golf instructor Sean Farrell at (813) 494-3963 or sean.farrell@sdhc.k12.fl.us; applications available at http://franklin.mysdhc.org.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.

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