Tiger Woods Hopes to Put Kids on the Right Course

Flanked by local kids who may be among the benefactors of his first youth education center, Tiger Woods shook his head in amazement Wednesday as he stared out at the land where his vision will unfold.

“It just blows my mind that this high school punk kid has a chance to give back where it all started,” Woods said. “I play golf for selfish reasons. This is something I can do for other people.”

The Tiger Woods Learning Center is based at the H.G. “Dad” Miller Golf Course in Anaheim, where Woods played as a student athlete at Anaheim’s Western High School in the early 1990s. He went on to become the top-ranked golfer in the world.

The Anaheim facility is by far the most ambitious project for the 6-year-old Tiger Woods Foundation, which will raise $25 million to build and operate the center. The facility will be free to youths 8 to 17 and include a 35,000-square-foot education center next to a 23-acre site that will be used for golf instruction.

Woods, who donated $5 million to the project, said at a groundbreaking ceremony that he expects the center to open by late next summer.

Plans to build similar facilities are a few years away, he said.

The center will operate 12 hours a day and will offer math, language arts and science tutoring, as well as character development programs.

“I want kids to come here to become a better person,” Woods said. “This is not a school. It’s a place to enhance lives.”

During the week, the center will serve children primarily from Orange County, particularly students attending the Anaheim City and Magnolia school districts.

On weekends, children within a 60-mile radius will be transported to the facility. Woods hopes to recruit youths nationwide for summer programs.

The first phase of the project will serve 150 to 200 fourth- to sixth-graders, said Sandra Barry, Anaheim City School District superintendent.

Needy or at-risk children will be targeted. Specific guidelines are still being developed.

The center is expected to bring broader benefits to Anaheim, Mayor Curt Pringle said.

“It will be a magnet of opportunity for the city,” he said. “If we could be the sports and education capital of Southern California, that would be great.”

Anaheim beat out several locations to become home to the foundation’s flagship learning center.

Former Orange County Supervisor Cynthia P. Coad was one of the project’s chief supporters.

“If I could’ve thought of this, I would’ve. This is exactly what was needed here,” Coad said. “We have thousands of kids, and there really wasn’t anything like this over here. This is just such a wonderful day.”

As part of the deal, Woods’ foundation will take over a portion of the Dad Miller complex, which is owned by the Orange County Flood Control District. The county is leasing the property to the foundation at $1 a year for 50 years.

“I wanted to see something that could have a direct impact on kids’ lives right here in Southern California,” Woods said. “It’s a dream come true.”