Junior Coach Spotlight

Bradley Lardie 9th Grade 14 years old Jenison High School 1st year as a junior coach

In Their Own Words:

Bradley’s Favorite Nine Core Value: Confidence is my personal favorite to have learned and to teach to others. Having confidence in yourself as well as other people is very important. Sometimes all it takes to do something is a small bit of self-belief. If someone doesn’t think they can sink a putt from really far away, I like to give them some encouragement. What is your favorite part of being a junior coach? Teaching the Nine Core Values to the PLAYer intro-level classes is really fun because you can see them progress within the six-week class. I even got to work with a few students on multiple six-week sessions last summer. Seeing the kids progress from their very first week to their last week of the second session is mind-blowing. They’ve become better at golf and learned and use all the Nine Core Values. I saw were students being courteous when others are golfing and gaining responsibility by bringing in their clubs and curriculum booklets every week.

Bradley’s fast facts, from Coach Tyler:

Bradley started on scholarship with First Tee at The Highlands in 2014, as a nine-year-old.
His older brother Caleb is also a long-time participant of First Tee West Michigan.
Bradley and Caleb both play for the Griffins Youth Foundation Hockey program.
- Bradley has taken on a special role as a junior coach there, as well, where he’s served in a very special capacity.
- To see Bradley’s involvement there, check out the video below.
This year, Bradley worked at the following golf courses:
- Lincoln CC
- Stormy Creek GC
Bradley has also helped clean our office from time to time – THANK YOU, Bradley!