Page 62 - Las Vegas Golf & Leisure Magazine Winter 2022

FEATURE

PGA Tour player Maverick McNealy and students in Del Sol golf room (Photo provided)

A True Golf School

Kendel Chrysler still remembers his days as a middle schooler “Bringing the game to kids who have never played before and
when his father would drop him off at the old Desert Rose Golf then trying to figure out where it fits into their lives is fun and
Club (now Club at Sunrise). He would spend hours there, and rewarding,” Chrysler says. “It’s enjoyable to watch somebody
golf made an impression. A few decades later, Chrysler is pick up a club and figure out what to do with it. We put a club
paying it forward. in 500 kids hands every single year. A lot of our students have
Chrysler, 32, and Paul Lampi, oversee the unique and circumstances that keep them from being able to visit a golf
inspirational Del Sol men’s and women’s golf programs, and course on a regular basis, so the room really helps them.
have built a one-of-a-kind “golf room” out of a Social Studies I’ve got students who have to go to work to help support
work area. It’s so good, even a PGA Tour player was impressed. their families. Others have to babysit and help out their little
brother and sisters so their moms or dads can go to work. By
“We converted this area over into a fully-functioning golf bringing in that golf room to the school, we’ve been able to
room with a simulator and two hitting bays, chipping area, create an avenue for each kid to explore the game without
putting green, and we have different clubs separated by swing having to go to the course.”
flexes and weights, and all this stuff,” Chrysler says. “It’s nice
because the kids can kind of tinker and experiment. Once they While Chrysler is a driving force behind the program, Lampi is
have a swing down, we’ve got swing plane trainers and every the sage and wise teacher who pushes everyone.
training aid device known to man to help the kids develop. It’s “Technically, he is the head coach of the women and I am
a really neat facility. Maverick McNealy has come by and hit head coach of the boys, but we just split the roles and then
balls, and he also did a clinic for the kids over the summer. I split up the responsibilities,” Chrysler says. “He’s sort of the
asked him, ‘What do you think of the room?’ and he said, ‘This grandfather of the program and he is the one who inspires us
is by far the coolest classroom I’ve ever seen.’” to do more. He has all these crazy ideas and also says, ‘Why
Del Sol is located in an underserved area of the city where can’t we do that?’ He does the same with the kids and asks
most kids wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to learn same question, ‘why not, why can’t you practice today?’ He
golf. But Chrysler, a PE teacher, includes golf as part of the really keeps them motivated.”
freshmen curriculum. He then follows through by coaching
the men’s and women’s golf programs for those students who If you want to help Del Sol golf with donations, email
show interest and talent. chrysks@nv.ccsd.net.

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