b'(a non-astronaut Tongan). Armstrong, looking at the tattered set of rentals Darrington was using, told her that he had clubs for her to keep for her stay.Golf equipment for kids is especially rare; so, Darrington got in touch with a friend who volunteers for First Tee Arizona, getting him to ship boxes of youth clubs, wiffle balls, and other equipment to Seattle, from where Maggie and Finau brought them to the island. Maggie took it upon herself to purchase uniformsred polo shirts and khaki shortsfor the kids to wear during clinics. She says they need more resources if they want to keep serving more kids.Once a plantationand then a horse track before being converted into a golf course in the 1960sTonga Golf Club does not have a practice area. The 10-30 kids who show up for clinics will split up with a few instructors across a few of the clubs nine holes and learn the basics. Darrington has been surprised at the natural ability some of these kids have, and her heart aches for how limited the opportunities are to play for the countrys youth. There is a big rugby field right where weThe clubhouse at Tonga Golf Club. live and I was just out hitting balls and some little neighborhood kids saw me and came over and they just sat down because they were just fascinated to know what I was doing, Darrington said. Pretty soon it was like the Pied Piper; all of a sudden, these kids started coming out of the woodwork.Darrington will return to Idaho in April and intends to play in her usual slate of state championships this summer. But the last 18 months of her golf life, set against the backdrop of grinding poverty and some of the worlds most at-risk communities, has reframed what the game means to her. And its something shes still trying to wrap her head around. I dont know how to explain it, she said. I still want to play, but its just like, its not at the top of my list. Im going to be thinking, I should be doing something else other than fiddling around, sitting in my hot tub or playing golf or going shopping, because for a year and a half its just been so different. We just take so many things for granted.Strands of rebar serve as some of the flagsticks at Tonga GC.MAR 2025|PACIFIC NORTHWEST GOLFER21'