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Former President Bill Clinton was there. So was California’s First Lady Maria Shriver, “60 Minutes” correspondent Ed Bradley and a host of political dignitaries and recognizable faces. But the real star of the show last month at the grand opening of the Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim was the guy whose name is on the building. “This is a dream come true and something that certainly exceeds my expectations,” said Woods of the 35,000-square-foot high-tech education and learning center, which welcomed its first students in January. “This is certainly one of the greatest things that has ever happened in my life. Everyone knows how much I love golf and to compete, but this is bigger than anything I’ve ever done on a golf course because we’re able to help shape lives.” The center is an outgrowth of the Tiger Woods Foundation, the charitable arm of Woods’ growing empire, which for years had staged golf clinics across the country for disadvantaged youth. The idea for the center, which will include a driving range, 18-hole putting course and chipping areas for local students who are accepted into its educational program, came to Woods while driving home from a tournament in St. Louis following the events of September 11. “I had a lot of time to think about life and to reflect and I thought about the foundation quite a bit,” Woods said at the grand opening celebration on February 10. “A couple of months later it hit me that we needed to build something substantial, something kids could touch and call their own.” Currently, the center’s educational program, which includes career counseling and areas of study not offered by most public schools, including forensic science and broadcasting, is open to students ages 10 to 18 in Anaheim school districts. By September, it will be open to students across Orange County, said Katherine Bihr, the center’s executive director. The location of the center isn’t an accident. It’s right next to Dad Miller Golf Course, which served as Woods’ home course while he was in high school and is located only a few miles from his alma mater, Western High School. “It was important for me to have the center here because this is where I played high school golf and it’s where I grew up,” he said. “This area certainly is not Beverly Hills and a lot of the kids I grew up with in high school didn’t have parents at home, or didn’t have the support structure or the advantages that a lot of private schools had. So [the center] is trying to bridge that gap.” At least one recognizable face at the press conference agreed with Woods. “Children of our entire country need more opportunities like this,” President Clinton said. “You walk into this place and it’s impossible for these kids not to think that someone cares about them. This place gives them a way of having an ordered life. I’m impressed Tiger Woods decided to do this when he was 30 instead of when he was 60.” Woods repeatedly emphasized during the press conference that the center’s primary purpose is educational. “Golf is just a component of the learning center,” he said. “This is an educational facility. Sure, you can hit some golf balls, stretch your muscles out, but we want them to stretch their brains out.” Every student who is accepted into the program — interested students need to write a letter explaining why they’re interested in participating — has the opportunity to take golf lessons and use the golf facilities. “The students who participate in the educational program will have the opportunity to learn to play golf. And these are kids who may never have touched a golf club before, let alone been on a golf course,” Bihr said. “So they can learn the basics of the game. We’ll also have clinics and special events.” Instruction will be offered for junior golfers of all abilities, Bihr said. In the center, kids participate in a structured program that requires them to be there two days a week after normal school hours. They have time for homework and tutoring, but they’re also interviewed and placed in a career exploratory classroom that allows them to study subjects not offered as part of their normal public school curriculum. The center is geared for students of all backgrounds and abilities, from the most over-achieving to less successful students. “We look at their report cards and grade point average but honestly we’re looking for kids who have a desire to improve themselves whether they have a 4.0 or a 2.0,” Bihr said. “We want kids who are maybe frustrated in school and who don’t think education is relevant. This is designed for high-potential, low-opportunity kids. Academics is first. While finding the next Tiger Woods would be terrific, it’s more important for us to help kids identify their potential so they can succeed in the bigger world.” As far as Woods himself, he seems to have a new goal that he’ll pursue once he stops competing on a weekly basis. “This is far bigger and far greater than any putt I’ve ever made,” Woods said. Previous to last month, Woods had only seen an empty building. The morning he arrived and saw the kids studying and met them he “had to hold back my tears. It was very emotional and tugs at you. It touches me more than anything I’ve ever done. This is what I want I do. This is what my life is going to be, helping kids not only here in Southern California but around the country and the world.” |
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