How D’Shawn Johnson, First Tee Louisville uses golf to teach inner city youth life lessons

LOUISVILLE — D’Shawn Johnson wants to teach golf to the youth of Louisville. But more than that, as the executive director of the First Tee Louisville youth golf program, he wants to use the sport to teach life skills to young people all across the metro area.

The nine core values that form the foundation of the program are honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment, and Johnson hopes to not only instill those values but also challenge some people’s perceptions about the game so they can reap its benefits.

“Golf mirrors life,” Johnson said. “You have your fairways, roughs (and) there’s challenges. It makes you think through the process. We work with other youth service providers and community centers, and we continue to knock down perceptional barriers. That’s what sometimes keeps us away from things that (are) going to help us. Golf is just that platform we use for an education-based program.”

Johnson admits he had to take that first step in overcoming his barriers to the game, but there were some other factors that drove him to the driving range. In his prior life, Johnson was an Louisville police officer for 17 years before he sustained a gunshot wound to his arm that forced him to retire early.

During his recovery, Johnson’s surgeon suggested adding golf to his therapy regimen. It wasn’t an idea that immediately took root with Johnson.

“Grown men chasing a little white ball around, it’s stupid,” said Johnson, who eventually relinquished those thoughts and accepted an invite from his surgeon to the driving range six months after his shooting. “That day was a humbling day for me. At 30-something years old, I was learning there are some things that I can’t do. At that point, I was determined to learn the game, and I practiced and got better.”

Johnson then took a job with the Louisville Urban League, which had a presence at the Shawnee Golf Course. He seized the opportunity to take his new respect for golf and use it as a means to fill a gap he saw in the community.

“As an officer when I would take kids down to the old juvenile hall, I always wondered maybe if there was someone in their lives to give some advice, they wouldn’t be in the backseat of my car,” Johnson said. “I’ve come to the realization now that person is me. It took on a whole unique perspective for me.”

And with that, Johnson and the Urban League established the initial First Tee program at Shawnee Golf Course in 2005, streamlining three different youth programs under one banner.

They started out averaging anywhere from 40 to 50 kids a week and have since expanded to six golf courses around the metro area to over 1,000 youths through its three seasonal sessions that run in spring, summer and fall.

Shawnee Golf Course in Louisville. Photo by Matt Stone/Louisville Courier Journal

“Golf teaches a lot of life lessons in its own way because it’s an individual sport,” said Blake Hardesty, the program director for First Tee Louisville. “There’s a lot of challenges with it. That (plus) being outside and getting the chance to learn in different environments all contribute to golf being a perfect segue to a lot of the life skills that we teach.”

But Johnson emphasizes that there are team building elements that are part of the First Tee curriculum.

“We create group activities,” he said, and gave an example with pairing a couple of young golfers together to have them play tic-tac-toe with their putters. “It’s a game to them, they start having fun. My golf skill I’m teaching them is distance and control. But, my life skill I’m teaching them is teamwork.

“Now these two guys have to work together, (and) they have to strategize to solve a problem. They have to figure out a plan of action and how to attack this. I’m teaching those things while they’re having fun.”

Johnson loves the newfound purpose that golf has presented to him and the First Tee coaches as they use the game to empower young people across the city. He’s always looking to expose new kids and grow the game, and he encourages others to not let their preconceived notions keep them from something that could benefit their child for the rest of their life.

“We’re preparing them for real life,” Johnson said . “Golf is just a tool. The life skills is the key that keeps them going.”

Go to First Tee for more information.