Category: Broward

Women’s Leadership Forum

Chapter students, staff and Coaches attended the annual Women’s Leadership Forum Wednesday of tournament week. The forum was an enlightening and educational event attended by more than 150 current and emerging women leaders to join in celebration to discuss leadership development and female empowerment.

The leadership guest speaker was Ann Ligouri, a nationally renowned sports radio and cable sports talk show host, interviewer, reporter, author, speaker, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

All the ladies also enjoyed celebrating the First Lady of Golf– Barbara Nicklaus’ birthday!

Our table stole the show in their stylish outfits generously donated by Lilly Pulitzer. Staff, coaches, and students included Gabbie Budd, Nyla Sims, Patty Cepeda-Russell, Mariana Flores, Cienna Collado, Jessica Stark, Abelina Wakeland, Sydney Rogers, Audrey Bacic and Chloe Chistofidis. 

Congrats To Our Pebble Beach Raffle Winner

Congratulations to Phil O’Connor for winning our Pebble Beach Raffle! He won a 3-night stay at the Lodge at Pebble Beach and a foursome to play one round at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course. Thank you everyone for entering and supporting our children and veterans.

Sponsor Spotlight: James Hardie Tourney

The inaugural James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational will be hosted March 31–April 6, 2025, at the Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton, Florida. The tournament will feature a field of 78 PGA TOUR Champions players competing for a purse of $2.2 million dollars. Playing alongside the Champions Tour players will be 26 football legends, who will tee it up on Friday and Saturday of the event. The three-day tournament will be televised on the Golf Channel.

The James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational will support our Chapter, Habitat for Humanity and the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation.

The PGA Tour Is Coming To Town!

Our local PGA Tour event held at PGA National is right around the corner February 29th through March 3rd.   We welcome a new sponsor, Cognizant, in 2024.  Check out all the incredible options to engage with the largest sporting event in Palm Beach County.  Need tournament tickets?  Please visit thecognizantclassic.com for tickets and hospitality options.

Play where the Pros play!!  We have a few foursomes left to play in our Monday after the Cognizant tournament. 

The Champion Course at PGA National will be set up in the same conditions with the same pin placements as the PGA Tour event’s championship Sunday.

EVENT FORMAT: 18 Holes, Four Player Teams One Best-Ball Event. Play Your Own Ball (Not a scramble). Prizes will be awarded for Gross and Net Divisions.  Special tee locations will be assigned for Seniors, Ladies and Juniors. 

TIME: 11:45am Registration, warm-up and continental breakfast., 1:00pm Shotgun Start. Limited Field to ensure a fast pace of play. 

For information and registration, please review the tournament invitation.

Participant Spotlight: Anika Pinidiya

Meet Anika Pinidiya, our newest superstar!  Anika is a participant in the Sunday morning program at AllGolf at CB Smith Park. This young lefty is awesome at listening to golf instruction, but also applying what she learns.  Anika also loves to spend time in between classes practicing. Her dedication to practicing has helped her golf game immensely. Keep up the great work Anika!

Boys & Girls Club – Carver Ranches Unit

We have kick-started the year with a fantastic turnout at the Boys and Girls Club – Carver Ranches! The kids were introduced to the putting game, which included proper setup, alignment, and motion of the putting stroke. Next, we lined up for a putting competition, where we had a few amazing ‘bullseye’ shots! We look forward to continuing this program and having even more fun with full-swing competitions.

Congrats Sean!

Congratulations Sean Kicker, PGA for receiving the 2023 Player Engagement #GameChanger Award on the main stage at the PGA Show!

The #GameChanger Awards were created by the PGA of America’s Player Engagement team in 2019 to celebrate the efforts of PGA Jr. League Coaches who create more opportunities for more kids to learn and play the game.

Chapter Award Winners

Coach of the Year Coach Jairo Hernandez. Coach Jairo runs the third-largest program at Eagle Trace Golf Club and is working to continue to grow his program. He has some of the top junior golfers in his programs, including one of the largest groups of teen golfers.

Student of the Year Haady Elneser. Haady has attended programs at Grand Palms & Davie Golf Club for the past 6 years. He is a junior at FAU School and maintains a very high GPA. Haady volunteers every weekend to mentor the younger participants and was selected to represent our chapter at the First Tee Leadership Summit in partnership with PGA Tour Superstore in Montana last summer.

100-Hole Challenge 3Peat

For the third year in a row, our organization won top fundraiser in the Seminole Region’s CMAA 100-Hole Challenge.  In combination with our Palm Beach and Treasure Coast Chapters, we raised over $380,000.  The Broward Chapter raised over $131,000 with directors, staff, high school students and golf and country clubs participating.  Director Stan Schachne won first place in raising over $12,000 last year.  Adios won top golf club fundraiser with over $10,000 raised.

“Special thanks to our players and the CMAA committee,” said Lou Chiera, Chapter Co-Chair of our Country Club Committee.  “This is our largest fundraiser of the year.  The players had a great time playing and impacted the lives of many children and veterans in Broward County.”

Interested in playing in 2024?  Please contact [email protected]

Partner Spotlights: Lion Star & Superschool

We have begun our four-week winter special needs golf programs with Lion Star Academy. 14 children will participate in the golf program every other Thursday. Coach Robert Ferzoco is teaching the class with the assistance of many of the Lion Star Academy staff. Special thanks to office manager Lisa Bennett for her help in coordinating and assisting in the program.

Lion Star Academy has transformed the lives of extraordinary students since 2005. LSA knows that every kid with special needs possesses a light that when nurtured, sparks a discovery of their unique gifts and talents.

We also have recently begun a winter golf program at SuperSchool, a 501c3 non-profit special education school. 39 children with special needs will participate in the golf program during February and March. Coach Rob teaches the program along with the assistance of many of the SuperSchool staff. Special thanks to Director Mrs. Caitlyn and Assistant Director/Lead Teacher Ms. Teena for their help in coordinating the program.

SuperSchool’s primary goal is to assist students with varying disabilities reach their utmost potential in a supporting and nurturing environment.