Along with an abundance of showers, April brought with it two very important calendric events: National Financial Literacy Month and, of course, The Masters Tournament.
They might seem like an odd pair – golf and financial know-how – but if you’ve ever watched a golf tournament, the commercials alone illustrate just how closely tied golf and financial services happen to be. And while that obviously has more to do with the affluence of those who watch golf than the game itself, golf’s major governing bodies are committed to using the game as means of imparting life lessons on young people through The First Tee program – established by the World Golf Foundation in 1997.
Financial literacy is not explicitly listed among the organization’s nine core values, but money management lessons do seep into the curricula. That makes sense, after all, considering that financial literacy is an increasingly important life skill in this era of “great” recession and when more than 70% of parents say their kids don’t know the basics of money management. Just ask the experts.
“Financial literacy in today’s world is almost as important as learning to read and write,” Jennifer Collet, president and CEO of the Missouri Council on Economic Education, recently told WalletHub. “And one could argue that a student’s credit history is far more important to his or her future than grade point average.”
So, in honor of The Masters and National Financial Literacy Month, we decided find out more about how The First Tee teaches young people to live a fiscally responsible life. In doing so, we turned to an esteemed group of PGA teaching professionals and representatives from First Tee chapters across the country for insights. You can check out our panel and their responses below.
- What financial lessons can we learn through the game of golf?
- Does the First Tee teach anything about financial literacy?
WalletHub experts are widely quoted. Contact our media team to schedule an interview.