Year: 2016

Chapter students enjoyed a great day of golf at Jupiter Dunes Golf Course. Golf prodigy Tommy Morrissey and his mother joined us for the par-3 18-hole competition with players competing in both gross and net divisions. Participants from our Treasure Coast Chapter’s Boys and Girls Club Hobe Sound program, Calvin Calderon and Gianna Clarke attended and played golf with our Coaches for the first time on a course!

Results: 1st Place Gross: Frances Melendez and Connie Capanegra with a six under score of 48, pictured above left with Tommy Morrissey. 1st Place Net: Billy Reid and Mark Reid with an eleven under score of 43.

Our 2016 Club Drives were a tremendous success and the resulting stats are impressive: Over 5,000 golf clubs collected. 35 participating country clubs in Palm Beach County. $25,000+ raised to support the mission and programs of The First Tee of The Palm Beaches. “What an incredible growth our Club Drive program has experienced in the last few years,” said Dr. Eddy Slotnick, Chapter Director and Club Drive Chairman. “We are so very appreciative to all the clubs that participated this year. Our goal is to grow the program substantially again next year.” The Country Club of Mirasol collected the most clubs with over 1,200 donated this past season. Right on their heels for top donations included PGA National Resort and Spa, Bear Lakes, Trump National Jupiter and Banyan Golf Club. All participating golf course receive a plaque from our Chapter. Pictured above from Jupiter Country Club left to right: General Manager John Barrett and Head Golf Professional Mike Bronkema. The Club Drive program began as an opportunity to collect equipment for students of The First Tee of the Palm Beaches. The donations became overwhelming for the staff as most adult clubs are always too long and heavy for juniors. Older players benefited from the program, but the clubs were not suitable for younger players. Cutting down shafts and re-gripping proved exhausting and expensive.“It got to the point where we had to stop the program,” said Carl Mistretta, Chapter Executive Director. “We had so many clubs in the lobby of our clubhouse I could not wade through them all to reach my office. But, each time we conducted a Club Drive, we met many new friends and supporters who learned about our Chapter.”

Over time, the Chapter figured out a way to use or sell every club donated. Now it is never an issue of having too many donated clubs. There are always plenty of clubs available at our 12-acre golf facility in Dyer Park and the excess clubs have become an annual revenue source. The most important byproduct of the Club Drive is that thousands of country club members learn each year about their local chapter of The First Tee. The Club Drive has led to many clubs later supporting our Chapter through their club’s charitable foundations. Also, many of the men’s and ladies’ golf associations began to make donations from their tournaments and events. “Our chapter has grown each year since inception,” said Steve Rockoff, Chairman of the Childrens Golf Foundation, the governing body of the chapter. “We cannot continue to grow and expand without the support of our local country clubs.” Below is an alpha list of all participating for the 2015-2016 season: Addison Reserve Country Club BallenIsles Country Club Banyan Golf Club Bear Lakes Country Club Boca Dunes Golf & Country Club Boca Grove Golf & Tennis Club Boca West Country Club Bocaire Country Club Country Club at Mirasol Eastpointe Country Club Emerald Dunes Club Forest Oaks Golf Club Frenchman’s Reserve Country Club Gleneagles Country Club High Ridge Country Club Hunters Run Jupiter Country Club Lost Tree Club Mayacoo Lakes Country Club Old Marsh Golf Club Palm Beach Country Club Palm Beach Par-3 Golf Course PGA National Golf Club St. Andrews Country Club The Bear’s Club The Breakers Rees Jones Course The Broken Sound Club The Club at Admiral’s Cove The Club at Admiral’s Cove/Golf Village The Club at Ibis The Country Club of Florida The Falls Club of the Palm Beaches The Golf Club of Jupiter The Wanderers Club Trump International Golf Club Trump National Jupiter To sign your club up for a 2017 Club Drive, please contact Chapter Director Dr. Eddy Slotnick at [email protected] for more information.

For years, the golf course maintenance staff from the Breakers Hotel has volunteered at our golf facility donating thousands of hours of turf management practices including aeration, sodding, top dressing, fertilization and over seeding. The Golf Course Superintendent of Breakers West and our great friend, Neil Sheridan, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Neil is 35 years old with two children under the age of 3. The expectation of medical and travel costs that will come with his out of state cancer care is quite large and will be burdensome. Our goal with this tournament is to too help offset some of those costs. Our hope is that we can take some of the financial stress of this young couple so they can focus on more things like getting well and taking care of their family. Please join us for a day of fun competition to benefit friend, Neil Sheridan. All proceeds will go to assist the Sheridan family with all upcoming medical and living expenses associated with Neil’s recent cancer diagnosis. Tournament hosted by: Chapter Director Mark Reid & Breakers West Country Club January 20, 2017 12:00 noon registration 1:00pm shotgun start 5:30pm cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, awards Please contact Jennifer Bryan for more information at [email protected] or 772-334-7515. Please CLICK HERE for the registration form.

The 2016 ESPN Boca Raton Bowl is a post-season game between two high-powered offenses as the University of Memphis from the American Athletic Conference will face Western Kentucky University from Conference USA. The game is being hosted and televised nationally by ESPN on December 20, 2016. Kick-off is at 7 PM at the beautiful Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Stadium Boca Raton Campus 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, Florida 33431 Tickets are FREE for participants, parents, volunteers and Coaches of our Chapter. The Spirit of Giving hosts a Community Tent with free snacks, pizza, water and cookies. Tickets will be issued at the Community Tent, near Gate 3 after 3:00 PM.  Please identify yourself as being affiliated with our chapter. Gates to the stadium will open at 3:00 PM. Please note: Parking is $20 per vehicle.

In partnership with The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, the Delray Beach PGA TOUR Superstore continues to make annual grants to our chapter. The donation enhances our ability to expand programs to additional locations, including elementary schools and youth organizations, and train more adults as coaches, mentors and leaders in the program. Pictured:  Accepting our check, Palm Beach Chapter President – Bobby Hendel, Palm Beach Director Ken Ohrstrom, Development Director – Jack Barrett, Craig Watson, Palm Beach Chapter Alumni – Emily Valentine, Coach Nancy Stuart and participants from the Boys & Girls Club. 

63rd Annual Leon “Pop” Sikes Father and Son Team Championship The tournament will consist of 36 holes of stroke play; one round of 18-holes to be played each day. Saturday, December 27th – First Round (18 Holes Stroke Play – Alternate Shot). Front and back tee times. Sunday, December 28th – Second Round (18 Holes Stroke Play – Alternate Shot). 8:30 am Shotgun Start. Practice Round Available Note: TOURNAMENT LIMITED TO FIRST 70 PAID ENTRIES $385 per team Please CLICK HERE to register and for more information. 40th Annual Parent and Child Team Championship The tournament will consist of 18 holes of stroke play. Thursday, December 29th. (18 Holes Stroke Play – Alternate Shot). 8:30 am Shotgun Start. Practice Round Available Eligible teams consist of the following: Father & Son (son must be 12 or younger), Father & Daughter, Mother & Daughter, Mother & Son, and Grandparent & Grandchild. $185 per team Please CLICK HERE to register and for more information.

Our good friend and long time supporter, Dennis Walters and his Superdog Bucky recently held a one-hour combination of golf and life lessons at our facility in Dyer Park. Their show is great golf and great fun, along with an inspiring message. The show began with a question and answer session where Dennis gets to know the audience and they get to know him. Background information and golf tips are also presented to the audience. Superdog Bucky, is Dennis’ best friend and does a variety of tricks, but is best known for his uncanny ability to correctly answer questions by barking out the answers. He is very good in math, general information, and golf trivia. Chapter students played a major role in the show and enjoyed pizza and Jack Nicklaus ice cream after the show.

Join us for The Dennis Walters Golf Show on Saturday December 10th at 10am at the Michael B. Finnegan Learning Center located at: Dyer Park  7301 N. Haverhill Road West Palm Beach, FL 33407 The Dennis Walters Golf Show is a one-hour combination of “Golf Lessons and Life Lessons”. It is great golf, great fun, along with an inspiring message.  You do not want to miss Super Dog Bucky’s tricks and proficiency at math!

Cannot join us? Please consider sponsoring a team for one of our participants for $150.00. CLICK HERE FOR TEAM REGISTRATION FORM CLICK HERE FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Ken Ohrstrom and his family foundation have been fantastic supporters of junior golf in South Florida for many years.  The First Tee chapters serving the counties of Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie have all received generous support from The Ohrstrom Family Foundation. The duo of Ken Ohrstrom and Jack Barrett, our Chapter Development Director, won this year’s Highest Fundraising Team for The Els for Autism Golf Challenge that took place at Old Palm Golf Club, raising an impressive $61,300.00. Pictured above left to right: Ken Ohrstrom and Jack Barrett.   “With the support of Ken and his family foundation, we have been able to significantly grow our programs,” said Steve Rockoff, Chapter Chairman.  “His generosity to our chapter and our partner, Els for Autism, has positively impacted the lives of thousands of young people in Palm Beach County.” The #GameON golf program was launched in collaboration with The First Tee and PGA Reach and it is aimed at developing life skills, building self-esteem and confidence, and encouraging social interaction and healthy living through golf for individuals on the autism spectrum. Jack engaged with The Els for Autism Foundation early on, and was instrumental in helping to create the Ernie Els #GameON Autism golf program. #GameON is delivered at events held across the U.S. and South Africa because of great support from individuals and organizations such as The Ohrstrom Family Foundation.  The golf facility at The Els Center of Excellence in Jupiter, Florida opened earlier this year and has become the physical hub for this ever-expanding program.

Believers Academy recently began programming with our chapter.  Believers Academy is dedicated to students with special needs, age fourteen to twenty-one, who are at risk of dropping out school.  The main goal of Believers Academy is to reduce reading and math deficits while building vocational skills for each student to obtain and maintain employment.  Through these accomplishments each student increases their self-esteem and becomes a productive citizen. The participants come out to the Dyer Park location on a weekly basis for a great time and learn golf and life skills with our Program Director, Coach Connie.

The team from Guest Services at The Breakers hotel recently played their annual golf tournament to support a local charity.  This year they picked our chapter and donated the proceeds of the tournament to support our mission and programs.  Pictured below: Carl Mistretta, Chapter Executive Director and Chris Allen, Breakers Assistant Guest Services Manager.

“The employee support we receive from The Breakers is simply inspirational,” said Bobby Hendel, Chapter President.  “Their assistance provided to so many local charities is an inspiration to us all to give back to our community.” Through their Volunteer Time Off program, employees from The Breakers are given the opportunity to use work time to volunteer. The program has made a significant impact at our facility as crews from the golf course maintenance teams regularly assist us with turf management practices at our golf facility such as topdressing, fertilizing, over seeding and sod installation.  Pictured right, a team from The Breakers helped strip and remove sod from an area where we recently installed a new landscape beautification project.