About

Matthew was born and raised in Plano, Texas, graduated from Plano East Senior High School in 2013 and went to college at the University of Arkansas where he received a Bachelor of Political Science in 2017.

While in Arkansas, he learned about The First Tee and began working as a sales associate selling buckets of golf balls for the public driving range at The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas’ facility. After quickly learning how much of an impact the program has on young people, he became an assistant coach where he was more hands on in the planning and teaching of lessons.

Six short months after graduating and moving to Dallas, he began at The First Tee of Greater Dallas as the Northern Outreach Manager, and he has now transitioned into the role of Manager of National School Programs.

Outside of golf, Matthew really enjoys spending his time playing/watching other sports, such as hockey, basketball, and football. He also enjoys lounging around with his cat, Jango, and dog, Addy while playing video games.

Katie joined The First Tee of Greater Dallas in March 2012. Born and raised in Salado, TX, she began competitive golf play in high school, which culminated in a state championship for Salado High School in 2006 during her junior year. She went on to play college golf for the University of Texas at Tyler. While competing nationally with the golf team, she also received her BA in English Literature and teaching certification for high school classrooms. She moved to Denton to start her graduate career in 2012, and 60 days later, she started with TFTGD.
In the fall of 2016, after a number of late night classes on top of full time work, she completed her Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Texas.
She completed requirements to achieve Recognized Program Director status with The First Tee Home Office in the fall of 2017.

Outside of First Tee, she has 4 cats, 1 bird, and 1 dog that take up what time she isn’t using on crochet/knitting/crafting, or running a K-pop dance group.

Coach Chandler is from Cedar Hill, Texas and has been playing golf since he was 12 years old. He quickly learned the game and started competing competitively as a freshman in high school. His senior year he tied for first place at the 2006 TAPPS State Championship and was named a High School All American recognized by the National High School Coaches Association. Coach Chandler went on to receive a full ride golf scholarship to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia where he studied Economics. After college he turned professional and played on various mini tours traveling the United States.

Coach Chandler first joined The First Tee of Greater Dallas in 2006 where he was a birdie participant. Chandler was welcomed to the program staff in March of 2015. He now resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife. Coach Chandler enjoys his time finding hidden food gems, traveling abroad, critiquing movies and playing golf with his buddies.

Coach Stefan, originally from El Paso, TX has been playing competitive golf since he was six years old. As a youth golfer beginning with the Sun Country PGA, Stefan continued to play in High School and eventually moving Phoenix, AZ to play golf at Glendale Community College. Stefan quickly realized that his true passion for the game of golf was in the ability to assist others to enjoy this great game. In 2007 after being introduced to The First Tee program through a college teammate, Stefan was immediately impressed with The First Tee’s curriculum and its overall mission to make better people. He spent 9 years working for The First Tee of Phoenix chapter learning and applying his knowledge throughout their 20+ programming locations. In 2012 Stefan also took the position of Head Women’s golf coach at Estrella Mountain Community College in Avondale, AZ until his departure back to Texas in 2016.

Stefan joined The First Tee of Greater Dallas in early 2017 and was eager to apply all his experience from teaching locally and nationally to growing the chapter here in Dallas. Today Coach Stefan resides in Little Elm with his wife and two young children. His hobbies include; finding new places to eat, going to concerts and spending time outdoors with his family.