Thank You!

Words cannot express the gratitude we feel towards our volunteers here at First Tee — Triangle and the measurable impact that our volunteers have on us and our participants. We are fortunate enough to have community members willing to dedicate their time to delivering our mission. Our volunteers are the anchor of our chapter.

Volunteer of the Month 2023

May 2023: Ann Mykins

Ann took up golf during Covid and her interest quickly took her to the ladies clinic with Coaches Dave Hinton and Rick Hengstenberg at Tri Golf/First Tee. Watching them work with the First Tee kids inspired her to get involved and every week it’s a joy to watch our kids grow in character and golf!
Ann hardly ever misses a class, is always early, and brings name tags each week to help us learn the kids’ names! We are so grateful to have Ann on our team – thank you Ann for all you do to inspire our kids!
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April 2023: Chris Koss

Chris is the General Manager of Chick-fil-A South Square in Durham, where he spends a lot of time developing young leaders in what is usually their first job. His goal is to become the owner operator of his own Chick-fil-A. He enjoys playing golf and introducing his two boys to the game. That’s how he became involved with First Tee. As a parent first, he loved the program and the life lessons that First Tee is trying to teach while also having fun playing a game that has no age limit or restriction. He is excited to continue to participate as a coach!
Chris volunteered at two different locations in Session 1- Knights Play and River Ridge. We are so thankful that Chris has been willing to give of his time and support and teach our participants! We are very proud to have Chris as a coach and a parent of our First Tee programs.
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March 2023: Kathryn Vardzel

Kathryn Vardzel is from Charleston and has a nursing degree from the University of South Carolina. Kathryn was a RN in a Pediatric Emergency Department for 5 years and recently finished her Masters in Leadership. She now works in hospital administration and has been spending her free time Volunteering with First Tee – Triangle.

Because of her busy schedule, Kathryn jumps in each week as a floating coach always willing to support whichever facility needs the most assistance. Over the last several weeks, she has worked with participants at River Ridge and Falls Village. Kathryn is a natural leader, takes initiative, and First Tee kids have already been tremendously impacted because of her involvement.

Adult Volunteer of the Year

2022 – Weezie Duckett, Ebony Dill, & Bob Nowoc

2021 – Elyssa Nastalski & John Bok

2020 – Kim Shope

2019 – Dan Sawyer & Hyla Wooldridge

2018 – Bill Alfano & John McDonald

2017 – Peter Pront & Sam Hodges

2016 – Chris Abbate & Wayne House

2015 – Anthony Laffoley & Bill Nave

2014 – Dan Moore & Ben Spiker

2013 – Staci Creech & Doug Samson

2012 – Terry Fleitz

2011 – John Mitchell

2010 – James Gerhart

Junior Volunteer of the Year

2022 – Tyler Spriggs

2021 – Aubrey Littrell

2020 – Jiya Patel

2019 – Tyla McAffity

2018 – Jiya Patel

2017 – Laurenz Gonzales

2016 – Jared Cross

2015 – Kelsey Selna

2014 – Andrew Minshew

2013 – Jonathan Paulson

Parent Volunteer of the Year

2022 – Jeffrey Stelmach

2021 – Dana Frazier & Heather Rand

2020 – Jimmy Conder

2019 – Roger Dattilo

2018 – Ben Ceranowski

2017 – Phil Vivongsy

2016 – Geri Lyn Cross