Ken Washington, a passionate golfer from Berkeley, founded Golf Lessons Delivered to get underrepresented communities involved in the sport.

Berkeley nonprofit brings youth onto fairways with free golf lessons. Golf Lessons Delivered uses courses at Tilden, Franklin Canyon in Hercule. s and Lake Chabot in Oakland, and has also taken trips to La Jolla, Walnut Creek and San Francisco. A typical outing begins with at least minutes at the driving range, followed by another half-hour on the putting green and then a nine-hole game they play alongside their trainer.

After the lessons, the entourage paired off into carts and headed for the greens. It was, many of the adults noted, a picturesque day. Fairways were lush and green after so much rain, the terrain undulating under canopies of live oak.0

While phones are not prohibited but discouraged, the boys did not consult theirs during their three hours at the course. They had other things to focus on, like the first hole, 411 yards 

“I didn’t think there was there was much to it,” Isaiah said of the sport before he started playing. “I just thought it was about hitting a ball. Wow! It is way more than that.

By Lara Leon -Los Altos Town Crier Editorial Intern  Oct 29, 2024 Updated Oct 29, 2024

Most high school athletes passionate about a sport typically focus on improving their games. Two teen golfers from Los Altos have set their sights on making the game more accessible to all. 

Los Altos High School senior Parker Woo and Lucas Lee, who attends Phillips Academy Andover in Massachusetts, are the founders of Fairway Fund, an initiative that has donated nearly 400 golf clubs and $10,000 worth of golf equipment to underserved communities.  

“Our mission is to provide mentorship and guidance, and donate equipment to golfers in need so (players) can continue to grow,” Lee said. 

Lee and Woo met in fifth grade while playing golf. Their shared passion for the sport not only brought them closer as friends, but made them realize how inaccessible golf is for many. So, at the start of August 2023, they founded Fairway Fund to address the problem. 

“(Golf) has this reputation for only being for super affluent people, and we’ve seen that there is a super high barrier to entry – even for people who already play,” Woo said. “Everything from equipment costs to mentorship costs to the green fees, which is what it costs to play every single round, those fees do add up.” 

Fairway Fund partners with local businesses and golf courses to source their donated equipment to those in need.  

“A lot of the clubs we source are from local golf courses,” Woo said. “Much of this equipment actually goes unused at these places (and) just sits in storage units at the clubhouse without anyone using it.”  

In addition to golf courses, Fairway Fund collects equipment from local retailers, including Golf Galaxy in San Jose, that often house customers’ old clubs. 

“When people trade in their clubs, many end up left there unused,” said Woo, who works with Lee to find new homes for this equipment. 

The initiative has partnered with certified nonprofit Golf Lessons Delivered, founded by Kenneth Washington, to distribute equipment and provide mentorship. Washington’s Berkeley-based organization follows a similar mission of making the sport accessible to underrepresented groups by mentoring and providing golf lessons. 

“The guys (Woo and Lee) are fantastic,” Washington said. “They’re doing the same thing we are trying to do – getting clubs to kids who might not otherwise have access to them. I think they’re a great organization, and I look forward to our continued partnership.” 

By donating clubs to Washington’s organization, Fairway Fund has enabled more families, including veterans, to take up golf. 

 “We recently had a veteran’s family – two teenagers and their mother – come to pick up some donated clubs. It was such a memorable experience seeing them so excited to start playing,” Washington said. 

Through perseverance and determination, Woo and Lee have changed the lives of many, Washington added. 

“It just struck me that (Woo) is a young man who is not only trying to find himself but also wants to make a difference in the world,” Washington said. “No other kids, no other adults I know of have gone a route of just purposefully looking for donations of clubs that we can give to other kids 24 hours a day.”  

To further their mission, Woo and Lee have set up a GoFundMe campaign. They hope to expand their mentorship programs and partner with local tournaments, Woo said.   

“Even if you’ve never played golf before, there’s really no experience necessary (to help us) – just spreading the word and sharing the mission can make a huge difference,” Lee said.  

For more information on Fairway Fund, visit fairwayfund.org. 

Golf with heart

By Lara Leon Town Crier Editorial Intern  Oct 29, 2024 Updated Oct 29,