Eric Williams began pursuing golf as a pastime in college after being introduced to the game by a friend in high school.
“I took a course and when I graduated, I had a brother-in-law who stepped in as my dad to teach me the game,” Williams told The Dallas Express.
Since then, Williams launched a golf mentorship program in Frisco along with co-founder Sean Washington to teach golf to at-risk youth.
“In ten years, we’ve had more than 130 kids come through the program,” Williams said. “We’ve had one secure a college scholarship for golf specifically. We’ve had kids come through the program and end up excelling in other sports or academically. We have several students who are now playing in Frisco Independent School District who otherwise would not have been interested in the game.”
Golf 3:16 was among the nonprofit organizations that received an $11,000 grant from the Village Giving Circle this year.
“We will use the money to invest in our students, give more scholarships and provide greater access and opportunity for them to learn, stretch, grow and realize their God-given potential,” Williams said. “We wanted those funds to be able to purchase a vehicle so that we can get kids to our program who don’t have a ride.”
Both Williams and Washington are men who play golf nearly every weekend.
“They both serve as mentors in their church and were talking one day on the golf course about introducing golf to children who would never otherwise have the opportunity to play,” said Lisa Montgomery, co-chair of the Village Giving Circle. “They envisioned using Golf 3:16 as a way to teach the sport to teach life skills like perseverance, leadership and overcoming challenges to at-risk students.”
Williams said the essential values that Golf 3:16 teaches children, such as faith, self-discipline, respect, servanthood, accountability, and honesty, are invaluable.
“While the game is being played, within the ropes, these core principles transcend the game and, by leveraging those core values, can help the students be strong citizens in whatever city they end up in,” he said.
The name of the mentorship program is Golf 3:16, which is spiritual.
“It came from God,” Williams said. “It means God offers love and forgiveness from John 3:16 in the Bible. Golf 3:16 is a way to introduce at-risk youth to God through the game of golf.”
The program takes place year-round on Sundays from 2 pm to 5 pm and includes monthly service projects and four life skill classes.
“They sign up at Golf316.org,” Williams added. “Each year our target is roughly about 30 students. Last year, we had 31 and I anticipate that will grow. The more people know about us, the more students we will find. We won’t let money be a barrier to students that want to participate.”
