A donation made in honor of a Seymour businessman’s retirement will help elementary-age students in the area learn the basic skills and values of golf.

Beginning second semester in January, golf will be introduced to students at all five elementary schools in Seymour Community School Corp. in their physical education classes.

Doug Prather, president of Kocolene Development Corp. in Seymour, recently spoke to school board trustees, explaining how the employee-owned company had decided to donate enough money to purchase equipment and provide curriculum to teach golf through The First Tee of Indiana program.

The donation was made in recognition of former president Gary Myers’ 30-year career with Kocolene. Myers retired Sept. 3 and was the third generation of his family to run the business.

“We started thinking about what we were going to do to honor him,” Prather said. “It really wasn’t a difficult decision. He’s had a lifelong passion for golf and youth.”

Those two things combined got Kocolene in contact with the Indiana Golf Foundation Office, which helped organize the partnership to offer The First Tee of Indiana program in Seymour.

Read the full story in Thursday’s Tribune and online at tribtown.com.