While many venture onto the fairway to play a game and relax with friends, Leslie Guzman teaches youth that golf is not just a sport but a mirror for life and a useful tool to overcome adversity.
Leslie (in the middle, with navy blue hat) always makes the day fun for her students at First Tee.
In 2026, Guzman is celebrating five years at First Tee-Greater Seattle, a journey that now sees her impacting over 3,000 youth participants every year as the chapter’s assistant program director, region supervisor, and golf and life skills coach. Looking back, she calls joining the organization “the best career decision I’ve ever made.”
“I feel incredibly fortunate to have a role where I get to work with so many amazing kids and people,” Guzman said.
For Guzman, the game’s greatest challenges also happen to be its greatest rewards. Rather than focusing solely on the perfect swing, she has spent the last five years finding immense joy in teaching kids how to navigate what happens when things go wrong, and how to overcome each challenge both on and off the course.
Navigating those tough moments on the course is where Guzman’s true coaching philosophy shines. She frequently sees young golfers let their confidence drop the moment they miscalculate a swing or miss contact with the ball, noticing how quickly that frustration can reflect the intense pressures kids face in the classroom or at home.
“When kids don’t make solid contact with the ball, you can see their confidence disappear,” she said. “Many times that’s the same feeling they have when they don’t get the grade they wanted or when something isn’t going well at home. Golf gives us a chance to work through those emotions.”
Her motto? Golf is a game of misses, and you also miss in life, but it is entirely okay to fail, because failure is the prerequisite to succeeding.
Going through challenges in a safe environment such as a golf course allows students the unique opportunity to succeed and fail, a powerful tool in learning how to be themselves, experience both success and failures, and find positive self-identity.
“Golf mirrors life in so many ways,” she said. “Every round brings challenges and opportunities to learn. It gives kids a safe place to struggle, figure things out, and discover they can do hard things.”
It is within that discomfort that the most rewarding transformations happen. Guzman guides her young golfers to find success not by avoiding the hard moments but by leaning into them and teaching the students how to get through. The payoff happens when students realize they can do hard things and find success on their own. When the students build confidence on the course, it reflects in aspects of their lives off the golf course and continues to show them how to carry themselves through adversity and treat themselves with respect.
Looking back on her five-year milestone, Guzman notes just how incredibly fortunate she feels to hold a role that lets her witness the long-term impact of her teaching. Over the years, she has had the satisfaction of watching her early students grow into high schoolers, young adults, and college students who continue to carry her lessons with them. Many even return to the program to help teach the next generation of golfers.
“Seeing students come back to give their time is special,” she says. “You realize the impact doesn’t stop with one generation. They go on to create opportunities for the kids who come after them.”
One student in particular, Brie, showed Guzman the importance of showing up as your authentic self. Reflecting on a conversation with Brie, she shares a lesson she continues to carry with her today.
“Knowing you won’t fit in every puzzle is okay, as long as you can show up as yourself every day and find the place your piece fits,” Guzman said.
Five years of chasing these breakthroughs with students has given Guzman a perspective that spans far beyond a single afternoon on the golf course. She hopes every student leaves knowing that they are more than a scorecard, and that how they respond to adversity matters more than the number they shoot.
“You’re more than your score,” she says. “Whether you have a good day or a bad day, what matters most is how you treat yourself and how you treat the people around you.”
Continuing to reinforce that failure is a part of the game and passing down the lesson that her students are more than their scores are just a few of the reasons that Guzman has had such an exceptional past five years. For her, the ultimate win is seeing those very students carry themselves through adversity, grow into leaders, and return to the program with a smile.
Looking ahead, her mission remains clear.
” A player might forget a shot they hit, but they will always remember how a coach made them feel,” she says. “Seeing kids come back with a smile on their face, ready to try again, that’s unbeatable.”
