How a former Savannah basketball star became First Tee's National Teacher of the Year

Ariel Brown was introduced to the game of golf as a toddler, by her father, Dr. Morris Brown, who was a standout player at Savannah State.

A gifted all-around athlete, Ariel Brown became a basketball and volleyball standout in high school during her years playing at Bible Baptist and Jenkins. As a senior at Bible Baptist, she led the Braves to the SCISA basketball finals as she led the city of Savannah in scoring with 24 points per game.

She earned a basketball scholarship to play at Jacksonville State, and after a knee injury she eventually transferred to Paine College, where she earned her degree.

After her basketball career ended, Brown came back toward one of her first loves — and has honed her golf game to become a scratch player. She passes on her passion for the sport as a teacher with the Savannah First Tee organization and Brown was recently honored as First Tee's National Teacher of the Year.

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Brown said she was honored to win the award, and loves giving back through First Tee, an organization that meant so much to her growing up.

"To be able to teach for First Tee is special because it helped open so many doors for me growing up," Brown said. "There weren't many young people who looked like me playing golf when I was growing up, so I wanted to be an example to the community and introduce kids to the game. I'm someone they can relate to."

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Her family has been dedicated to the Savannah community for decades. Her father started teaching the game of golf to kids in Yamacraw Village and built it into a respected after-school program. He had many ventures that fostered change and eventually started the prep school — Savannah Legacy Academy. The school currently serves kids from kindergarten through eighth grade. Ariel Brown teaches second and third grade and is Chief of Operations at the school.

Brown said she grew up in the Southbridge community and remembers seeing Savannah Christian grad Brian Harman, who won The Open Championship in July, constantly working on his short game until the sun went down.

"I liked golf, but you have to be a mature kid to dedicate yourself to it when you're young," Brown said. "I loved to run and wanted to be on the basketball court where the action was when I was a kid. But after going through two knee surgeries when I was in college, I came back to the game and realized I was talented."

Brown said she is playing four or five times a week now. She's still a member at Southbridge, where she regularly shoots par. She wants to compete on the amateur circuit in the Southeast, but her focus is on teaching -- through education and the sport she loves. She said she tries to keep things basic when working with youngsters.

"If they're hitting irons, I tell them to sweep the grass and that ball will pop up — I use that tip all day," she said with a laugh. "But teaching the game is so rewarding. I try to do my part and enjoy being there for all the milestones and successes my players have."

Brown said she wants to build the Savanah Legacy Academy into a unique center of education.

"We want to bring back the high school grades and make that a priority," Brown said. "I want to build a facility with a driving range, a short game area, a simulator and a few holes where we can practice. I'd like to make First Tee a mandatory class for our students here — because it goes beyond golf to teach you lessons about life."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Ariel Brown returned to roots to earn First Tee National Teach of Year honors