More First Tee Honors for Warren Stephens '79
Back in June, we wrote about President George W. Bush’s trip to Little Rock, Ark., to honor Warren Stephens, a 1979 Washington and Lee graduate, for his work on First Tee, the national organization that gives young people free access to golf courses, equipment and instruction.
Last month, Warren received yet another honor for his work with the program when officials at the First Tee in Fort Smith, Ark., announced that they have renamed the course the Warren Stephens Golf Course, and that they will build a pavilion dedicated to the Stephens family on the grounds.
Both a story and a column in the Times Record of Fort Smith recorded the Stephens family’s history with First Tee, which began when Warren’s father, Jack Stephens, the chairman of Augusta National, was approached by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem about supporting a youth program.
As Warren related, ” wasn’t there to ask for money, but my father asked if he needed any. Tim said, ‘Sure, that’d be great.’ And my father said, ‘How does $5 million sound?’ Finchem almost fainted. After he composed himself, he asked what he could do in return, and my father said, ‘I wouldn’t mind if a couple of those facilities were built in Arkansas — in Little Rock and Fort Smith.’ ”
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