The Academy was originally founded by Joe Balander, Lloyd Morrison and George Hannon who were the head golf professionals at Jimmy Clay/Roy Kizer, Lions Municipal and Morris Williams Golf Municipal Golf Courses. The Academy has been continued by the city ever since and through the years thousands of boys and girls who might not have had the opportunity otherwise, have been introduced to the game of golf and benefited by participating in Academy. Beth Cleckler, Steve Hammond, Lloyd Morrison and Kevin Gomillion and all the Austin Golf Staff have spearheaded this year’s activities and they were assisted by other city employees and volunteers.

Volunteers from the golfing community such as Billy Clagett, one of Austin’s best golfers over the years, participated as instructors. Clagett said it has been one of the most rewarding activities he’s done over the years and loves being around the kids. He looks forward to it each year. He said “You look across that golf course and see all these kids playing golf and it’s just great. Hancock is part of my old stopming grounds and where I learned to play this great game. Seeing it full of kids reminds me of my experiences here and it’s a blast.”