About

Tom serves as the President of the Board and Chairman of the Executive Committee. He is a senior investment partner of The Flint Hills Group at Morgan Stanley. Tom brings 40 years of business and civic experience to the program. He has hands-on experience in financial and organizational development. He has served on numerous charitable boards, most recently as President of the Board of the Mental Health Association of Kansas. As a founder of First Tee Greater Wichita, Tom brings a passion for golf and children’s developmental programs

Patricia serves as the Vice President of the Board, is a member of the Executive Committee and is Chairperson of the Program Committee. She is very involved in volunteer activities, mostly involving golf.  Patricia is a member of the Board of Trustees of Wichita Collegiate School, Junior Girls liaison for Women’s Golf Association of Wichita, a staff member for Kansas Women’s Golf Association.   Her passion for excellence in golf has brought her many outstanding player awards.   Patricia is an activist for golf and its virtues.

Katy Winters is a Data Management Supervisor at Koch Supply & Trading. She was a member of the Arkansas Women’s Golf Team and University of Kansas Womens golf team. She was a National Golf Coaches Association Academic All-American, and a Academic All-Big 12 First Team.

Managing partner of Klenda Austerman, one of Wichita’s largest law firms, Austerman is active in many civic and community organizations, including the Wichita Chamber of Commerce. He is a board member of Wichita Festivals, INC. and was an owner of the Wichita Wingnuts, a former professional baseball team in Wichita.

Hale serves as Treasurer of the organization and a member of the Executive Committee.  Hale is the former chairman of Ritchie Corp.  He has ties to non-profits that go back 37 years.   Now retired, his wife, Jane and he are long-time volunteers and supporters of Rainbows United, a nonprofit group that serves children with special needs and their families.   Hale’s work over the years with the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition has established him as a true visionary for the City of Wichita,   Hale was recently named the 2014 recipient of the Uncommon Citizen Award by the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce

Troy Hendricks has been in the golf business for 30 years. Troy is a 28 year member of the PGA. He has been a member of the South Central Section of the PGA since 2001. He has been a member of the Midwest Section, Gateway Section, the Nebraska Section and the Western New York Section. Troy worked as the Head Golf Professional at Twin Hills Golf & Country Club in St. Louis, MO and Riverside Golf Course in Cambridge Springs, PA before becoming the Head Golf Professional at Auburn Hills Golf Course. Troy was promoted to Golf Manager for the City of Wichita in 2014.

In May 2004, George R. Kolb was appointed City Manager of Wichita, Kansas. Kolb oversaw a
workforce of 3,200 members and a budget of more than $500 million for a community whose
population exceeds 358,000.

For the past 30 years, Kolb has been involved with the operations of municipal governments in
Georgia, Michigan, Virginia, and now Kansas. During this time, he has held management
positions in various capacities from directing a major utilities operation in Virginia to serving in city
management positions overseeing all operations of municipal governments. Kolb’s development and
implementation of unique and invaluable skills has facilitated improvements for organizations to focus on
excellence in municipal service delivery and customer service in a public sector environment.
Kolb has obtained the International City/County Management (ICMA) Credentialed Manager designation. He
was one of the first local government management professionals worldwide to be credentialed through the
ICMA Voluntary Credentialing Program.

Prior to joining the City of Wichita, Kolb served various communities in Georgia, Virginia and Michigan. He is a 1996 graduate of the Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government Senior Executives in State
and Local Government Program. Kolb received his Masters of Public Administration from the University of
Michigan and his undergraduate degree in business administration from Eastern Michigan University.
In addition to serving on the NFBPA Board of Directors, he was a member of the Wichita Art Museum Board of Directors and the Greater Wichita Economic Development Council

Judd Easterling is one of the most-accomplished golfers in Wichita State University Shocker history and he takes the torch from the program’s most-successful coach. The 2019-20 season marks Judd Easterling’s first as head coach after three years as an assistant under the legendary Grier Jones. A two-time honorable mention All-American for the Shockers from 2001-05, Easterling returned to his alma mater in October 2016 after stops at Missouri and Arizona State. He was elevated to associate head coach prior to the 2017-18 season. Judd has been a member of First Tee Greater Wichita board since 2020.

Very few folks in the Wichita area are more committed to the junior golf community than Rick Navarro. Rick has been around the game all his life.  He is the son of Auggie Navarro a Wichita golfing legend. During the day Rick is Vice President of Terminals & Land Development and MV Purchasing. Rick is not only on First Tee Greater Wichita board, but he is also the president of the Auggie Navarro Scholarship fund which has raised more than $400,000 all of which has gone back to deserving youth in the form of college scholarships in the Wichita area. Rick is also an integral part of First Tee Greater Wichita Golf Marathon which has raised more than $50,000 in two years.  Rick has been a member of the board since 2020.

Carlton graduated from Campbell University in 2004 with a Bachelors Degree in Professional Golf Management. Upon graduation, Carlton earned his PGA membership and began working as an Assistant Golf professional at Baville Golf Club in his hometown of Virginia Beach, VA.  In 2008, Carlton became the PGA Director of Instruction at Baville and in 2009, he completed the PGA”s Certified professional program by undergoing specialized training in the field of instruction.  Carlton is currently working toward the PGA’s highest distinction of Master Professional. He is also the Director of Golfer Development at Wichita Country club in Wichita, KS.

Mr. Sullivan graduated from University of Illinois College of Dentistry and College of Business and recently moved to Wichita, KS. Mr. Sullivan is currently the Executive Vice President and Dental Director at Delta Dental of Kansas.

Willard W. Rice is currently an Administrative Contracting Officer with the Defense Contracts
Management Agency of the Department of Defense. His organization provides contract administration,
pricing and negotiation support for the acquisition and maintenance of military hardware and software
systems. Willard is a career military veteran with 22 years of worldwide service as an acquisition
professional. On completing his military career Willard was employed by Raytheon Aircraft as the
program manager for flight simulator training systems supporting the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, the
Greek Hellenic Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Willard earned a bachelor’s degree in
Industrial Management from Newman University and a master’s degree in Management Information
Systems from Friends University in Wichita, KS.

Willard learned to play golf while serving in the military and would like to see more military and minority
children have the opportunity to learn the game of golf while developing the life skills taught in the First
Tee program.

Sean is a Sales Manager at Cox Business in Wichita, KS and a grad of  Baker University.

Scott Hatchett is President and owner with Hatchett Devlin Automotive.  Currently involved with many charities including The Wichita Childrens home, SCARF, the Kansas Human Society, the Alzheimer’s Association, Beauty & Beast and St.Jude Childrens Hospital.  Scott is on a few boards including The Wichita Open, KADA, The Wichita Grand Opera.

Alan Clark has been a Class A member of the PGA of America for more than 25 years. He has provided leadership for several prominent golf clubs in the St. Louis area along with both the director of golf and general manager tracks. He is also engaged in the development of software technology, featuring hands-free video capture through smart devices for golf and sport. Alan has been with First Tee Greater Wichita since May 2020.

Our Program Director is Corey Novascone. Corey comes to us with a successful background in golf. Corey was a member of the WSU golf team from 1994 through 1998. He won the Kansas State Amateur title in 1996. After college, Corey played several years of professional golf. From 2008 to 2014, Corey was the Customer Service Manager for The Golf Warehouse. However, what really attracted us was his success in working with kids. From 2013 to 2015 Corey was the head golf coach for both the boys and girls teams at Kapaun Mt. Carmel. During his time there, his teams became the 2013 and 2014 Girls State Champions and the 2014 and 2015 Boys State Champions. He went back to coach at Kapaun and lead the girls’ team to another state championship in 2020. Corey has a strong passion for working with kids and helping them succeed at whatever their endeavors may be. Corey has been with First Tee Greater Wichita since its inception in 2016.