The ideal site for an innovative new golf course would be…the middle of a public housing project? That is exactly where you will find a facility being used by The First Tee of Lehigh Valley golf program. The organization took a gamble on a unique new concept and the dividends have resulted in the course becoming a nation-wide model.

Board members of The First Tee of Lehigh Valley spent more than two years searching the Northeast Pennsylvania landscape for the ideal 25-30 acres that would be suitable for a golf learning facility. Little did they know that the solution to the problem would come in the form of an object that looked like a napkin ring. That object was a training tool known as a Birdieball.

The First Tee of Lehigh Valley Birdieball Course

Golf Course designer Mark Fine stumbled across a “Birdieball” when a friend gave him a couple while working on a restoration project at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver. “I took some Birdieballs home and started hitting them around and realized this revolutionary practice ball could be the solution to our golf course dilemma,” stated Fine.

The Birdieball doesn’t look like a golf ball, but the feel and flight are similar. The limited flight capacity allowed Fine and others involved with the project to design a course on just two acres of land. That is when a partnership between the Bethlehem Housing Authority, the Boys and Girls Club of Bethlehem and The First Tee of Lehigh Valley took shape. The Boys and Girls Club was located within the Marvine Housing Project and had the ability to provide participants, and the Housing Authority made a significant land and financial contribution to make the Birdieball course a reality.

With the help of a tremendous three-way partnership and a grant from the United States Golf Association, Fine created a three-hole design to compliment an adjacent learning center. None of the holes exceed seventy yards and the level of difficulty is ideal for beginner golfers.

“If you have as little as one acre of vacant land you have the potential space for a Birdieball course,” commented Fine. “You can start simple and just hit the Birdieballs back and forth to targets, or you can jump right in and have a few holes and greens designed for your own real golf course.”

The course’s unconventional aspects may be what appeals the most to participants. While it may not be easy to view golf in an urban environment attracting youths like traditional sports, this course serves the purpose of doing just that. Kids are able to walk out of their front doors to a place where they can take a full swing just like being on an actual golf course. The course offers underserved youth a different type of playground, one that is green and one that they can call their own.

Josh Adams, a program participant, expressed his satisfaction with the course, “I like to take full swings; it makes me feel like I am a real pro when I can reach the green.”

The ‘outside the box’ mentality that the organization took with the course is paying off for the program as well. The First Tee of Lehigh Valley was able to attract 332 participants to the program at the Marvine location this past summer. Program leaders anticipate that number growing on an annual basis.

“I can’t tell you how pleased we were with everything this year,” commented Executive Director Julie Thomases. “If you could see all the kids we reached, it is just unbelievable.”

After a summer of phenomenal results, the program hopes that other organizations will consider the concept. “Birdieball courses can be located in parks, neighborhoods, in limited space and safety restricted areas,” stated Fine. “This concept will help introduce real golf in areas never thought possible, and to kids and adults that might otherwise never have the interest or opportunity to play the game.”