PALM HARBOR, Fla. – For the second straight year, the Valspar Championship is allowing players to get creative with their name on their caddie bibs. Some are playful such as “Kick me” or “24karat” and others are simply promoting their social media handle or, in the case of Lanto Griffin, trying to make sure his name is pronounced correctly – “It’s Lawn-Toe.”
Then there is Scott Stallings, who saw an opportunity to bring awareness to a cause near and dear to his heart. “Kids Play Free” adorns the bib of his caddie, John Yarbrough, this week. The Scott Stallings Kids Play Free Initiative is a program that Stallings started in his home state of Tennessee with the support of the Tennessee Golf Foundation.
Several years ago, Dick Horton, who retired in 2018 after spending 45 years with the Tennessee Golf Association, asked Stallings how he was going to pay it forward to the junior golfers coming behind him. After much debate, they agreed that time, cost, and accessibility are the three primary barriers keeping more young people from playing.
