Category: News

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.

We extend our sincerest gratitude to Jack Nicklaus, our Honorary Chairman and a Trustee of The First Tee, and the members and staff of The Bear’s Club for recently hosting our annual 100 Friends tournament. “Our sponsors and supporters simply had a wonderful time,” said Bobby Hendel, Chapter President. “The club is very special and the golf and food were spectacular.” Pictured below: The winners of our 2016 event with a net score of 54 were – Mark Reid – Chapter Director, David Burke, Marc Haisfield, and Alex Gillmurray Winners of the gross division with a score of 64 were Steve Rockoff – Chapter Chairman, Steve Kessner, Jaared Hack, and John Orchin.

Thank you sponsors!

Special thanks to our friends at Toro, Audubon International and the Palm Beach Golf Course Superintendents Association for hosting a “Live Green” event for our chapter in Dyer Park. Over 50 students enjoyed a variety of environmental experiences including learning instruction about golf course agronomics, how golf courses help our environment, golf course maintenance and irrigation equipment, building bird houses for migrating purple martins and installing a new landscape design at our facility. “Toro supports The First Tee nationwide and has helped us in so many ways,” said Chapter Executive Director Carl Mistretta. “They are an industry leader in community giving- from offering special pricing on irrigation and maintenance equipment to chapters of The First Tee and helping us with significant grants during our facility renovation.” Toro has recently become a Trustee corporate partner of The First Tee- the highest level of giving. Toro and Audubon International sponsor seven Live Green! events per year around the country and our Chapter was very fortunate to be selected this year. The students received a free T-shirt and lunch was sponsored by Collins and Fish and Seafood.

Ever try to play golf in your Halloween costume? It can be done! As proven by some of our participants, pictured above. Many of our students, and even our Coaches, attended Halloween Saturday class in their awesome costumes. Check out our Facebook Page to see more pictures of the costumes.