When Jim Nantz learned earlier this year that PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Greg McLaughlin, CEO of the First Tee Foundation, wanted to arrange a call among the three of them, Nantz assumed it was about making an appearance at a First Tee event sometime this year.
It was much bigger than that.
Nantz was asked and has accepted the role of honorary chair of the First Tee, a role held previously by only two people – his friends and former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush or, as Nantz sometimes calls them, 41 and 43.
“It was a surprise and a wonderful surprise,” Nantz said from his Nashville, Tennessee, home earlier this week.
As the honorary chair, Nantz will be charged with promoting the First Tee’s purpose and expanding its reach. The announcement was made Friday, coinciding with First Tee Week, a nationwide campaign to recognize coaches and their impact on young people and their communities.
“I’ve always been a strong believer and advocate for what the First Tee can do. I’ve seen what it does for young people,” Nantz said.
Nantz said he will begin in earnest in September after a board of governors meeting at Pebble Beach. That’s where he and the organization will begin game planning how he can be most effective.
With his busy travel schedule as CBS Sports’ lead announcer for PGA Tour golf and the NFL, Nantz will try to coordinate visits to First Tee sites around the country when he is in various cities for his television work.
“I will be as hands on as I can be,” Nantz said.
The First Tee has 150 chapters with more than 5,000 active coaches who teach more than golf, focusing on the organization’s nine core values as the foundation for learning and growth, touching more than three million participants annually.
“I know how crucial sports can be helping young people prepare for the future.” – Jim Nantz
Nantz cited national polling that indicates youth who participate in organized sports activities develop stronger character because of their involvement.
“I know how crucial sports can be helping young people prepare for the future,” Nantz said. “I go back to 1997 when the First Tee was presented. It had the support of Augusta National, Tim Finchem and the PGA Tour, the PGA of America, the USGA and the LPGA and George H. W. [Bush] was the first honorary chair.
“I remember how excited 41 was to be part of this endeavor. He took it on as something typical of his energy, passion and involvement in things. He gave his time and credibility to help launch the First Tee.
“I told George W. that I remember when his dad was ready to hand it off to his son and their discussions about how much he had enjoyed his role and how he thought it was something 43 would really enjoy.
“You can imagine how much it means to me as a tribute to those men to carry their legacy forward.”
Nantz talked with George W. Bush about the role during a visit to the former president’s Texas ranch.
“Jim Nantz brings passion, integrity and deep love for golf to this role. His voice has narrated historic moments in the sport and now that same voice will help inspire a new generation. My father would be proud that our friend is following in our footsteps and I look forward to seeing First Tee’s continued impact under Jim’s leadership,” Bush said in a statement.
Nantz, who has been on CBS Sports’ golf telecasts for four decades, has been around golf since he was a youngster. His first golf memory is of joining his parents as they helped clear fairways at a new golf club they had joined in Charlotte, North Carolina, picking up rocks and sticks.
When the family moved to New Jersey, Nantz got a job working around the pro shop for pro Tony Bruno at Battleground Country Club.
“I was dropped off at sunup and I did all sorts of odds and ends. I picked up the range, cleaned clubs, running a bag to the trunk of a car, helping in the shop and it gave me access to play,” said Nantz.
When the Truist Championship was in Philadelphia two weeks ago, Nantz met William Hyndman V, the First Tee of Greater Philadelphia’s CEO and a member of one of golf’s most prominent families, whose grandfather Nantz had followed at a U.S. Open many years ago.
“The love of golf has been passed on through generations of the Hyndman family and it’s importat to get kids to understand the magic of the organization. It extends way beyond parameters of trying to develop good golfers,” Nantz said.
“That’s what maybe gets lost in the CliffsNotes version of things. We’re trying to introduce the game and all the virtues that come with it.”