Kansas City man builds golf course on childhood land to teach kids life lessons

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A former Kansas City athlete is using the game of golf to teach underprivileged kids that the rules of the sport are the rules of life — and he’s doing it on the same land where he grew up.

Chris Harris built Harris Park Golf Course at E 40th Street and Wayne Avenue in the Ivanhoe neighborhood of Kansas City. The nine-hole short course sits on property his father purchased decades ago. Harris said he has been cutting the grass there since he was 13 years old.

“My father started buying the land here,” Harris said. “I started following my father’s footsteps — and I started buying up the rest of the land.”

Harris played college and semi-pro basketball before turning his focus to the community. He said sports, and specifically the game of golf, taught him more about life than anything else — and he wanted to pass those lessons on.

“You can do everything right in golf. You can do everything right in life, and things still go wrong,” Harris said. “But you have to understand that, suck it up, and keep moving.”

A course built for the community

Harris said golf was largely inaccessible near the Ivanhoe neighborhood before he built the course. The park features nine tee boxes and three turf greens, with each green offering four different pin placements. The longest shot on the course is around 68 yards.

“A lot of people think miniature golf, but these greens are really fast,” Harris said.

The park also has a strict set of rules — no smoking, no loud music, no parking on the grass. Harris said those rules were shaped by the community itself and reflect the same values he teaches through sports.

“You follow the rules, you win,” he said.

Programs bringing kids to the course

Three major programs currently use Harris Park to reach Kansas City youth.

The First Tee holds sessions at the park every Wednesday evening, teaching kids golf alongside the organization’s nine core values of life. The Boys and Girls Club visits on Tuesday mornings. Harris also said about 20 Kansas City Public Schools brought students to the park for field trips this year.

“On Wednesday evenings, we have the First Tee here — and they come out and teach an hour and 15 minutes of golf and they teach the nine core values of life,” Harris said.

Harris said the impact goes beyond the sport. He believes the environment itself shapes the kids who spend time there.

“If you’re growing up in blight, you sometimes become blight,” Harris said. “If you grow up in beautiful green space — sometimes that’s what you grow up with.”

Building for the future

Harris said he has been doing this work for more than 30 years, but there is still more work to be done.

He is partnering with an organization called The Way Home to build 22 houses and duplexes on the property. Rent from those homes will fund the park, allowing it to sustain itself for future generations. Harris said he plans to rent to tenants earning between $34,000 and $70,000 annually, at 30% of their income.

“The funding for the houses goes back into the park so the park can self-sustain itself — so it can last for generation after generation,” Harris said.

Harris said the Harris Park model is designed to serve as a blueprint for expansion throughout Kansas City neighborhoods, in partnership with The Way Home.

He said the mission is personal — and lifelong.

“A great man always told me that he wanted to leave this world better than he found it,” Harris said. “And I took heed to that.”

How to get involved

First Tee holds sessions at Harris Park every Wednesday from 6 to 7:15 p.m. The program is open to youth in the Kansas City area.