First Tee – Indiana, Indianapolis, August 29, 2026
More than 250 kids filled Frederick Douglass Golf Course on Saturday, August 29, for a day designed around a simple idea: make golf fun, accessible and welcoming to everyone.
The Bank of America Golf With Us event brought together Indiana Golf, First Tee – Indiana, Youth on Course, Watson Links and community partners for a full day of activities, instruction and memorable experiences. More than 25 Indiana Golf staff members and volunteers were on hand, helping young golfers learn the game while celebrating the community surrounding one of Indianapolis’ most historic golf courses.
The morning began with five interactive stations spread throughout the facility. Kids had the opportunity to take full swings, test their putting and chipping skills, trade golf balls for soccer balls with FootGolf and step inside the Dryvebox mobile golf simulator.
For some, it was another opportunity to enjoy a game they already knew. For others, it was their first introduction to golf.
Either way, the objective was the same. The morning wasn’t about building perfect golf swings or keeping score. It was about connecting fun with the game and creating an experience that made kids want to pick up a club again.
And there were a few familiar faces helping make that experience even more memorable.
Indiana sports icons Tamika Catchings and Jeff Saturday joined the celebration, speaking with participants, signing autographs and spending time alongside the kids as they rotated through the stations.
Catchings knows plenty about reaching the highest level of a sport. The Indiana Fever legend is a 10-time WNBA All-Star, five-time Defensive Player of the Year, 2011 league MVP, 2012 WNBA champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist. Her career eventually earned her induction into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
But at Frederick Douglass, Catchings spoke as someone still discovering golf herself—and who understands how meaningful the opportunity to discover the game at a young age can be.
“I am just learning golf in my later years, and to think about the opportunity if I would have had it when I was younger,” Catchings said. “It really allows the resources, the opportunity, accessibility for our young people to be able to come out and learn about golf.”
For Catchings, that ability to simply give a young person the chance to try the game is part of what makes programs like First Tee so valuable.
Saturday brought a different perspective, but one that arrived at a similar conclusion.
The former Indianapolis Colts center spent 13 seasons with the organization, earned six Pro Bowl selections during his NFL career and helped anchor the offensive line of the Colts’ Super Bowl XLI championship team. On Saturday, however, he was less interested in talking about football than what sports—and golf in particular—can teach young people.
“First Tee, what an incredible organization,” Saturday said. “When you think about First Tee and all the youth that they are helping shape, not only the golf game, but their lives, and the way that we take on and look at golf as a great game that translates to life.”
Saturday pointed to the discipline and consistency golf requires, but also something much simpler: the conversations that happen between shots.
“Golf is the only sport…that you can literally be out on the course, in between shots you’re having a conversation about your life and how you’re building these relationships, whether it’s with family you’re playing with or friends.”
He also acknowledged one of the biggest barriers facing families interested in the game—the cost of getting started. Through First Tee, Youth on Course and the organizations supporting events like Golf With Us, clubs, instruction and affordable opportunities to play can become more accessible to young people who otherwise may never have the chance.
“Everybody’s coming together for the common good,” Saturday said. “These kids are learning not only lessons about golf, which hopefully they carry on, but all the lessons that we learn from all sport that we can apply to our life.”
By the time the morning concluded, hundreds of kids had swung clubs, rolled putts, kicked soccer balls, tried a simulator, collected autographs and spent time with volunteers and mentors.
But the day wasn’t finished.
In the afternoon, one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game took center stage.
LPGA Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam shared her perspective on golf before putting on a clinic for those in attendance. With 72 LPGA Tour victories, 10 major championships and eight LPGA Player of the Year awards, Sorenstam’s accomplishments have made her one of the most recognizable figures in women’s golf.
Her connection to the message of the day, however, went deeper than her résumé.
“I’m a big, big fan of First Tee,” Sorenstam said. “I think it’s a great initiative that started many years ago. Obviously, the nine core values, but also the nine healthy habits, which I was part of creating. I love it.”
Sorenstam sees a natural connection between what happens on a golf course and the lessons young people will encounter throughout their lives.
“There’s a lot of synergy,” Sorenstam said. “Things that you learn on the golf course, I think it’s very similar to life, and I think First Tee is a great promoter of that, but also just getting kids to play the game. I just love it.”
Her message fit naturally with everything that had taken place throughout the day.
Catchings spoke about access and what it means to discover the game at a young age. Saturday spoke about the relationships and life lessons that can develop once a child gets involved. Sorenstam showed the kids where the game can take you, while reinforcing that the lessons learned along the way can matter just as much as the golf itself.
Then she let the clubs do some of the talking.
Sorenstam followed her presentation with a golf clinic, giving the young players an opportunity to watch and learn from one of the most accomplished golfers of all time. After a morning spent experiencing golf themselves, they were now seeing the game played by someone who had reached its highest levels.
The event also served as a fitting conclusion to Frederick Douglass Golf Course’s 100-year celebration. For a facility that has spent a century providing a place for Indianapolis residents to experience the game, seeing more than 250 young people fill the property offered a glimpse at what the next century could hold.
Kids learned. Volunteers laughed. Autographs were signed. Friendships were made. And more than 250 young people had the opportunity to experience golf in a setting built around making sure they felt welcome.For Indiana Golf and the many organizations that made the day possible, that may have been the most important takeaway of all.
Before someone can fall in love with golf, they have to be given the opportunity to experience it. On Saturday at Frederick Douglass Golf Course, hundreds of kids got that opportunity—and had plenty of fun along the way.