Category: News

7 days a week, 365 days a year, every day! our maintenance staff, led by Superintendent Ryan Kelly, has to maintain our 13-acre practice facility and clubhouse grounds.  Three industry leaders in turf maintenance stepped up to help us with our needs. “Syngenta generously donated a variety of products to assist us with weed, fungus and insect control and Bayer generously donated product for insect control that was applied by Southern Soils,” said Mark Reid, chapter Director and Facilities Chairman and Director of Golf & Grounds Maintenance at the Breakers.  “We are very grateful for the support of Kevin Wasilewski from Syngenta, Brian MacCurrach from Bayer and Tom Seeber from Southern Soils.”

Pictured: Tractor and staff from Southern Soils applying donated insect control product from Bayer.

Recognized by GolfWeek as the #1 junior event in golf, the Junior Invitational welcomes the very best junior golfers from around the world to Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville, South Carolina. Past participants have succeeded at every level having already played in the Ryder Cup, Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Chapter participant, Brandon Doner, was invited to attend the opening dinner and play in the tournament ProAm.  He was joined by his father, Adam, who also played in the ProAm. “What an incredible event and golf course,” said Brandon.  “Through our local chapter, I played in the The First Tee Open at Pebble Beach and now I have played Sage Valley.  It does not get any better than that!” The invitation was made possible by an exchange program between our chapter and The First Tee of Aiken.  Students from Aiken attended this year’s The Honda Classic and played in our Monday after tournament. Congratulations to Adrien Pendaries, the grandson of Chapter Director, Dr. Edward Slotnick.  Adrien played in the Junior Invitational and finished tied for 11^th place at three under par.

Looking for something the children can do this summer that is both fun AND educational? Our chapter offers summer camps and programs at multiple locations for youth ages 6 to 18. CLICK HERE for Summer Camp locations near you! In addition to learning fundamentals of the golf swing and the game, your child will be introduced to our character education and life skills programs that help young people prepare for success at school, home and in the community. Lessons are offered, in a fun, activity-based, group setting with trained coaches.  Children are grouped together by age and ability.

The mission of LOOPER is to bring caddies back to the game of golf and make them more accessible to golfers of any skill levels at virtually any course. Our chapter has partnered with LOOPER to accelerate their development of the South Florida market and to provide extended opportunities to our chapter’s students. As LOOPER’s South Florida launch partner, our chapter will help recruit and develop caddies through our existing on-course programming. LOOPER, the on-demand app and caddie platform, will provide more learning and earning opportunities for these new caddies. In addition, our chapter will be LOOPER’s primary beneficiary in the south Florida market receiving a donation for every completed LOOPER round. “The First Tee has become integral to providing youth with access to golf through its many chapters across the country,” according to LOOPER Founder and CEO, Dave Cavossa. “We share the core belief that golf can provide youth with life-changing opportunities, and we are excited to work with the Palm Beaches chapter to bring those opportunities to more students in south Florida.” Today, only a handful of high-end private clubs and resort courses offer caddies. LOOPER, launched this past Spring in the Mid-Atlantic, aims to change that trend. LOOPER has deployed a shared economy platform, in the model of popular ride sharing services such as Uber and Lyft, that is disrupting the caddie industry and making it easier for golfers to book caddies, and for courses to offer caddie services. LOOPER offers a quick, easy and more affordable way for golfers to book a caddie while allowing the courses to provide a premium service at no operational cost. Golfers simply download the LOOPER app (available for iPhone and Android devices) and register to start using the service at participating courses. Once the golfer enters the course, the date and time they plan to play, they then receive a confirmation notice from their LOOPER caddie who will meet them at the course. Fees range from $25 – $85 plus tip. LOOPER currently offers four levels of service: JR LOOPER, LOOPER, FORE-LOOPER and PRO-LOOPER. “We are excited to work with LOOPER in this partnership.” The First Tee of The Palm Beaches, Executive Director, Carl Mistretta, explains, “Golf provides young people with the opportunity to build character, learn values and make healthy choices. Working with LOOPER will create more opportunities for our students to thrive in and around the game of golf.” The LOOPER technology platform is completely customizable for each course’s needs. Each course can choose the service offerings and pricing that allows it to best serve its golfers. To join the growing list of courses offering caddies through LOOPER, courses can visit www.looper.golf. LOOPER is the fastest growing caddie-on-demand service platform in the Nation. LOOPER was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in the Washington, DC area. LOOPER is currently operating in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania with upcoming market launches in South Carolina, Florida and California. For more information go to http://www.looper.golf/.

Please join our program partner, the Boys & Girls Clubs for their upcoming tournament! CLICK HERE to view the invitation and sponsorship card for the event that will be held on May 12th and 13th. This is the 28th year for this fun event and the activities will include:

• A dinner & auction on Friday, May 12th at the Wyndham Grand Jupiter at Harbourside Place, and
• A round of Golf at the exclusive Dye Preserve Golf Club on Saturday, May 13th

Since its inception, the B&GC Annual Golf Classic & Auction has raised over $6 million for the clubs of Palm Beach County, and with your support they will have another successful event to support the youth in our community.

Bella Gingrich, a senior at Cardinal Newman and member of their golf team, recently spoke to our students at Dyer Park. Bella visits our facility in Dyer Park once a week to practice with the Cardinal Newman team. She visited our PAR and BIRDIE classes and discussed how important it is to become an excellent public speaker. She is a member of the debate team and went to Harvard University last month for a debate tournament. Her team won the tournament. She incorporated the life skills of our curriculum in her speech to our participants.

2016 was an incredible year for our chapter. The number of children being served has grown every year of our existence.  Our growth is due to our dedicated community partners, coaches, volunteers and physical educators who deliver the programs: our chapter staff, board members and school administrators who help lead the way; and of course, the numerous individuals, foundations and corporations who provide resources to strengthen our work. CLICK HERE to view our 2016 Annual Report for a summary of our impact on youth during the last year in Palm Beach County.

Without caring coaches and volunteers, positive youth development just does not happen. We believe that a meaningful, quality relationship between coach/volunteer and participant is vital to the success of our programs. We cannot accomplish our mission without our dedicated coaches and volunteers. Each year we announce the recipients for our Coach and Volunteer of The Year Awards. 2016 Coach of the Year – Nancy Stuart, LPGA Master Professional 2016 Volunteer of the Year – Jay Jenkins Congrats to Nancy and Jay!!

The ladies of Banyan Golf Club recently held their Closing Day luncheon and again choose our organization as the benefitting charity, for the third year! The ladies conducted a Club Drive for us and donations to support our girls’ golf programs. Special thanks to Sue Epstein for coordinating this generous contribution. Without the tremendous support of our local golf clubs like Banyan Golf Club, we simply would not exist. Pictured: Cindy Laudermilk – General Manager of Banyan Golf Club, Jack Barrett – Chapter Development Director, and Sue Epstein – leader of the Tuesday Ladies Group at Banyan Golf Club.

Looking for something the children can do this summer that is both fun AND educational? Our chapter offers summer camps and programs at multiple locations for youth ages six to 18. CLICK HERE for Summer Camp locations near you! In addition to learning fundamentals of the golf swing and the game, your child will be introduced to our character education and life skills programs that help young people prepare for success at school, home and in the community. Lessons are offered, in a fun, activity-based, group setting with trained coaches. Children are grouped together by age and ability.

Congratulations to fan favorite Rickie Fowler, The Honda Classic 2017 champion! The Honda Classic attracted 203,815 confirmed spectators over seven days between the Monday Pro-Am and Sunday’s final round, an increase over the 202,128 that saw Adam Scott prevail in a day-long duel with Sergio Garcia in 2016.  The victory vaulted Fowler back into the Top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking at No. 9, just as it did for Scott a year earlier. The Honda Classic is a Founding Partner of our Chapter and supports our mission and programs through their charitable giving to our community.  Our Chapter also raises funds through the Monday after tournament, Birdies for Children program and the PGA TOUR donated their Wednesday Pro-Am purse.  The tournament has an impact to our Chapter each year of more than $70,000.00.

Many of our supporters experienced PGA TOUR playing conditions, including Sunday pin placements at The Monday after The Honda Classic Invitational on the Champion Course.  The pins were tucked and the rough was up.  Playing in our event opens the eyes to just how good the players are on the PGA TOUR. “From the Junior Clinic to the Monday after Invitational, The Honda Classic is our biggest week of the year,” said Bobby Hendel, Chapter President.  “The tournament brings tremendous community awareness to our organization and helps us raise much needed funds.”  Pictured below: First place in the gross division was won with a score of 71 by Deron Zendt and Steve Bernard who edged out Jared Meyers and John Powers on a match of cards.  First place in the net division was won by Gregg Snowden and Al Young with a score of 58.