Patrick Fahey got the bug last year, when he attended the Ham- Am preceding the International Junior Masters. He knew players who were in the field. He witnessed the vast array of young talent that had gathered from as close as the host club, East Aurora Country Club, and as far away as South Korea, Colombia and Mexico.

“I saw all the kids that were playing in it and how big a tournament it was and how cool it is and everything, and I said to myself, ‘I’m going to get into this tournament next year.’ And I just did well in my other tournaments and built up my resume and got accepted.”

Fahey’s a bit of a pioneer. Many local golfers have played in the IJM, which starts today in East Aurora, throughout the decades. But Fahey is the first local player who has gained a spot through his participation in the Western New York chapter of The First Tee, the worldwide organization that uses golf as a chalkboard to teach life lessons.

There are plenty of misconceptions about The First Tee program concedes Fred Zillner, who heads the local chapter out of Harvest Hill in Orchard Park.

Some people think the program serves youngsters who already have a background in golf. Others believe the program is intended as an outreach to the financially or environmentally disadvantaged.

“People see the commercials all the time,” Zillner said. “But they still ask us to tell them a little more because they’re not sure what we’re all about.”

The WNY branch was launched five years ago, at Cazenovia Park, Fahey’s home course. The program expanded two years ago with the debut of Harvest Hill, which includes a short-game practice range and a three-hole loop specially designed with young First Tee golfers in mind. But don’t be mistaken. First Tee is just about as far as it gets from the high-end golf academies that have risen around the country. The mission is not to produce the next Tiger Woods, at least not in relation to his golfing prowess. It’s a marriage of inexperienced and experienced golfers, anyone looking to develop and hone life skills with golf as the backdrop.

“We’re not a golf factory,” Zillner said. “We teach golf and the life lessons associated with it. We teach values that are inherent in the game of golf. When you keep your own score, it’s honesty. When you call penalties on yourself, it’s integrity. Sportsmanship. Courtesy. Our first lesson is courtesy. Our kids learn how to introduce themselves on the first tee.”

What a radical concept. Imagine if all youth sports programs were built around fundamental ideals. No emphasis on maximizing an individual’s talent or setting off in an inexorable march toward a college scholarship. Instead, the game becomes the catalyst for growth that serves an individual in myriad ways, inside and outside the sport.

Zillner puts the value of the First Tee program at $125 for the season, but the WNY chapter charges only $85 and underwrites the remainder. “And if the kid cannot afford it, we charge nothing. We’ll raise the money ourselves,” he said.

One of the two major fundraisers, a golf tournament, will be held Monday at East Aurora CC, after the conclusion to the IJM. While it’s not First Tee’s goal to develop elite golfers, it stands to reason that invariably accomplished players will emerge. Fahey, a four-year veteran of the program, is the first, having won the WNY PGA boys under-15 title last year and earned All-Catholic honors at Timon-St. Jude.

“I think [First Tee] really helped with the mental game,” Fahey said. “I’m so calm on the course, it’s weird. I’m really excited off the course, always full of energy, but on the course I’m just really calm and thinking about my game. They kind of taught me how to act not only on the course, also off the course.”

Beginning today he puts those skills to the test in the IJM, where he’ll put The First Tee on the first tee.