Davis Education Foundation -

Unified Golf Quadrupled in Year Two — and the Smiles Kept Up

On a bright Thursday morning at Valley View Golf Course in Layton, nearly 400 students from 11 Davis School District schools traded classrooms for fairways. The second annual Unified Golf Field Day — made possible by the Rich Day Group — brought together students with and without disabilities for a day of golf, laughter, and belonging that nobody wanted to end.

The growth was staggering. Last year's inaugural event drew just over 100 middle schoolers from 10 schools. This time the field day expanded to 11 schools and nearly four times the students — running two full sessions, morning and afternoon — a sign of just how quickly Unified Sports has taken hold across the district.

What Unified Sports actually looks like

Unified Sports pairs students who have intellectual or developmental disabilities — the athletes — with general-education peers — their unified partners. They practice together, compete together, and in the case of Unified Golf, learn a lifelong sport side by side. It's not about score. It's about showing up on the same team.

At Valley View, that partnership played out across four skill stations: putting greens, a chipping area, a driving range, and an indoor instruction session in the clubhouse. Volunteer coaches and golf professionals rotated groups through each station, adjusting for ability and keeping the energy high. For many of these students, it was the first time they'd ever held a golf club.

When a kid who's never swung a club watches their ball leave the ground for the first time and their partner is right there cheering — that's the whole point.

Rich Day Group made it possible

None of this happens without a community partner willing to invest in something that doesn't come with a trophy case. The Rich Day Group sponsored the Unified Golf Field Day for the second straight year, covering the cost of the course, instruction, equipment, and logistics so that every student could participate at no charge.

Rich Day Group's sponsorship was recognized in the Davis Education Foundation's annual report, at the Foundation Board of Directors meeting, the Davis School District Board of Education meeting, and across district and Foundation social media. Their support was also featured in DEF's application for the Best of State Award in the Player Development category — an award the Foundation won.

A day on the course, a ripple through the year

Unified Golf is one piece of a growing Unified Sports program in Davis School District. The Foundation has helped expand access to Unified basketball, flag football, snowshoeing, and now golf — giving students with disabilities more opportunities to compete and connect, and giving their peers a chance to lead with empathy.

For the students, the field day is more than a morning out of school. It's proof that they belong somewhere new. Several teachers reported that after last year's event, students who had never spoken to each other in the hallway started sitting together at lunch. That kind of change doesn't show up in a stat line, but it's exactly what Unified Sports is built to do.

Going from 100 students to nearly 400 in one year tells you everything. The demand was always there — we just needed someone to open the door.

Why this matters beyond the golf course

Davis Education Foundation exists to remove barriers to learning — and some of the tallest barriers aren't academic. They're social. Programs like Unified Golf create space where students with disabilities aren't on the sideline. They're on the team. And the students who partner with them walk away understanding something no textbook can teach.

Thanks to the Rich Day Group, nearly 400 students got that experience this year. If the trajectory holds, next year's field day will be even bigger — and the friendships that start on the fairway will keep going long after the last putt drops.