Winning Fore The Kids (WFTK) aims to introduce kids, who may never have the opportunity, to the wonderful game of golf. Unlike any other sport, we believe golf is a game that mirrors life. The game has the ability to teach valuable life skills that can open doors and expose people to opportunities beyond their imaginations for the rest of a person’s life.  There are many barriers to entry into this amazing sport that not everyone may be able to overcome and WFTK is striving to alleviate those hurdles. 

WFTK is a registered 501c4 non-profit, and was founded in 2021 by Hartwell native and Athens resident, Winston Gibbs.  Winston is a local Realtor with The Collective Brokered by SimpliHOM and an avid golfer. At the young age of ten, Winston was introduced to the game of golf. His family encouraged him to continue on this quest, and Winston’s love for the game of golf continued to grow throughout his adolescent years. After a successful high school career, Winston continued his love for golf and played four years of collegiate golf with his first two at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) and finished at Shorter University. He can point back to many of the blessings in life directly from the game of golf which includes travel, friendships, business, exercise, and general character building.  So how did the idea for WFTK come to fruition? 

Winston grew up in a family of educators and coaches with his parents and multiple family members, including currently his older brother and sister-in-law in the same profession.  He has seen the impact on numerous kids’ lives that they have day in and day out, whether that be past students running with joy up to his parents or late night counceling of student student athletes through various situations. That is something that Winston wanted and although he does get the satisfaction of serving others in his real estate career, he knew that there was opportunity for more.  A  previous company of his offered a grant program that would do a dollar-for-dollar match on any profits raised by their associates.  Gibbs saw this as an opportunity to capitalize on a way to raise money that can be used to pour into and coach kids in the local community in and through his passion for golf. That is when Winning Fore The Kids and the first charity golf tournament along with Winston’s’ desire to give back to the game of golf were put into motion. 

In 2021, WFTK partnered with the Athens Jaycees to ensure that the ability for the goal of a $10,000 matching grant was possible. The charity was awed that they reached that goal, but the golf tournament was the easy part, now to put into action the end goal of introducing kids to golf.  Through a connection with a local Athens group called Downtown Ministries (DTM), WFTK formed a partnership that would build relationships with kids from Downtown Academy and revitalize their Downtown Sports Golf Program for years to come.  In October 2022, WFTK had its first event and took seven elementary kids to the A&F driving range for a couple of hours of fun and learning followed by food and ice cream at the Dairy Queen.  WFTK is excited about more opportunities to grow that relationship with DTM as well as expand to Winston’s hometown of Hartwell where the doors of golf were opened to him.   To date, WFTK has raised more than more than $25,000 and they are excited to continue growing that number.  The funds raised will go directly towards the mentorship of kids and give more of them the opportunities to hit balls, play golf, get lessons, and buy clubs and clothes.  Those actions, as well as many other things, will not only be fun but grow their character, teach them life skills and lessons, and open doors that only golf can do in this world.