Category: Palm Beaches

Chapter girls dominated at Districts. Jacie Goodman (pictured above left, holding trophy on right) helped Palm Beach Gardens High School to capture the District golf title at Wellington National Golf Club. Chapter staff member Emily Valentine coached the Jupiter High girls’ team that finished in second place. Chapter student Zoe Shamy (pictured above right, second from right, next to Emily) shot 79. Dwyer High finished in third place featuring Olivia St. Antoine. All 3 teams have advanced to Regionals. The Palm Beach Gardens High boys’ golf team also advanced to Regionals finishing in 3rd place. Chapter student Billy Reid plays on the boys’ team.

HALLOWEEN GOLF AT DYER PARK Saturday, October 30th from 9:30am to 11:00am (no regular classes) • Halloween Golf Stations • Prize For Best Costume • Lots of Fun, Candy, and Golf FREE to attend! To register, please contact Emily Valentine at [email protected] HALLOWEEN ADULT-CHILD SCRAMBLE AT DYER PARK Sunday, October 31st at 1:30 PM Cost: $25 per team • Tournament Prizes • Costume Contest • Pizza and Beverages To register, please contact Coach Joe Gerard at [email protected] Both events to be conducted at the Finnegan Learning Center in Dyer Park, 7301 N Haverhill Road, West Palm Beach, 33407.

Bruce Lee Fleisher, fondly nicknamed “The Flash,” professional golfing legend, and incredible human being both on and off the course, passed away on September 23rd, 2021, after a valiant fight against Multiple Myeloma, Amyloidosis and Heart Failure. Born in Union City, Tennessee on October 16,1948, Bruce’s love for all things golf began at the young age of 7 when he started working as a caddie with his two older brothers. He attended both Miami Dade Junior College and Furman University, and at the age of 19 became the third-youngest player to win the U.S. Amateur. He followed this great feat by placing lowest amateur at the 1969 Masters Tournament, soon after he would turn professional. His young professional career also included winning both individual and team gold medals in golf at the 1969 Maccabiah games giving much pride to the Jewish community. Bruce was known as a journeyman, having a very modest PGA tour career with only a single win at The New England Classic. He managed to stay competitive until he was able to join the PGA Champions Tour at the age of 50. He became the first player to ever win back-to-back championships in his first two events. He would go on to win 18 times including a major, the 2001 US Senior Open. He was a great supporter of First Tee and our children and veterans. Many of his friends and family have made generous donations in his memory to support our mission and programs. Rest in peace Flash.

We had a fantastic three weeks of summer camp at the Palm Beach Par 3. The program completed its 8th year with generous funding from the Par 3 Foundation. To ensure social distancing, the number of students was kept below 14 campers each week and attended by a total of 36 students over the summer. The students had a great time, and we offer our sincere gratitude to Raymond Floyd, the Par 3 Foundation, and the staff at the Par 3 with huge thanks to Tony Chateauvert, PGA and Angie Young. We really appreciate our long-standing relationship with the Par 3 and everyone that makes this program possible each summer.

We had a fantastic three weeks of summer camp at the Palm Beach Par 3. The program completed its 8th year with generous funding from the Par 3 Foundation. To ensure social distancing, the number of students was kept below 14 campers each week and attended by a total of 36 students over the summer. The students had a great time, and we offer our sincere gratitude to Raymond Floyd, the Par 3 Foundation, and the staff at the Par 3 with huge thanks to Tony Chateauvert, PGA and Angie Young. We really appreciate our long-standing relationship with the Par 3 and everyone that makes this program possible each summer.

We are delighted to announce that our Chapter was awarded the GuideStar Gold Seal of Transparency for 2021. “From annual audits to utilizing an independent accountant, our staff and board members work tirelessly to achieve financial transparency for our non-profit organization,” said Chapter President Bobby Hendel. “We were very excited to receive this award.” Please visit GuideStar’s website to review our Chapter’s profile.

We are delighted to announce that our Chapter was awarded the GuideStar Gold Seal of Transparency for 2021. “From annual audits to utilizing an independent accountant, our staff and board members work tirelessly to achieve financial transparency for our non-profit organization,” said Chapter President Bobby Hendel. “We were very excited to receive this award.” Please visit GuideStar’s website to review our Chapter’s profile.

Discount Golf Balls recently joined our Chapter as our newest Nine Healthy Habit sponsor.  DCB’s owner, Jimmy Goodman, is the uncle of Jacie Goodman, one of our Chapter students. Jimmy is very proud of Jacie and has been very supportive of our organization. Discount Golf Balls is licensed and insured and has been in business for over 35 years and processes over 4 million golf balls each year! DCB pays industry leading prices for the balls they retrieve. If your lakes are full of golf balls please contact Jimmy at [email protected] for more information.

Discount Golf Balls recently joined our Chapter as our newest Nine Healthy Habit sponsor.  DCB’s owner, Jimmy Goodman, is the uncle of Jacie Goodman, one of our Chapter students. Jimmy is very proud of Jacie and has been very supportive of our organization. Discount Golf Balls is licensed and insured and has been in business for over 35 years and processes over 4 million golf balls each year! DCB pays industry leading prices for the balls they retrieve. If your lakes are full of golf balls please contact Jimmy at [email protected] for more information.

Thanks to an expanded partnership with PGA TOUR Superstore and The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, First Tee offered a first-of-its-kind leadership summit for our teen participants. The Leadership Summit is designed to strengthen the participants leadership skills through dynamic outdoor and team-building activities, preparing them to transfer those skills to other scenarios they will face in the future. Chapter student Tyler Mistretta attended the summit at the unforgettable backdrop of West Creek Ranch in Montana with 19 other teenagers. The students participated in collaborative workshops in to challenge their conceptions of transformational leadership. First Tee’s core competencies of building character, self-confidence and resilience were an integral part of the experience, combined with a robust curriculum that explored the concepts of relationship building, positive risk taking, and character evaluation. “This was my last participant opportunity as a First Tee student before going to college,” said Tyler. “It was an unbelievable week as all 20 students learned so much and really bonded. West Creek Ranch is just awesome. I rode a horse for the first time, and everything was incredible, especially the hospitality, rooms, and food. I cannot thank Mr. Arthur Blank, Mr. Joe Gorman, First Tee and PGA TOUR Superstore enough for this once in a lifetime experience.” Pictured right: Tyler with Ralph Stokes, Director of Partnership Marketing at PGA TOUR Superstore and the beautiful backdrop of the mountain view from West Creek Ranch.

Thanks to an expanded partnership with PGA TOUR Superstore and The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, First Tee offered a first-of-its-kind leadership summit for our teen participants. The Leadership Summit is designed to strengthen the participants leadership skills through dynamic outdoor and team-building activities, preparing them to transfer those skills to other scenarios they will face in the future. Chapter student Tyler Mistretta attended the summit at the unforgettable backdrop of West Creek Ranch in Montana with 19 other teenagers. The students participated in collaborative workshops in to challenge their conceptions of transformational leadership. First Tee’s core competencies of building character, self-confidence and resilience were an integral part of the experience, combined with a robust curriculum that explored the concepts of relationship building, positive risk taking, and character evaluation. “This was my last participant opportunity as a First Tee student before going to college,” said Tyler. “It was an unbelievable week as all 20 students learned so much and really bonded. West Creek Ranch is just awesome. I rode a horse for the first time, and everything was incredible, especially the hospitality, rooms, and food. I cannot thank Mr. Arthur Blank, Mr. Joe Gorman, First Tee and PGA TOUR Superstore enough for this once in a lifetime experience.” Pictured right: Tyler with Ralph Stokes, Director of Partnership Marketing at PGA TOUR Superstore and the beautiful backdrop of the mountain view from West Creek Ranch.

The Palm Beach Gardens PGA TOUR Superstore hosted our chapter’s annual scholarship award ceremony. Seven-chapter students celebrated their scholarship awards with parents, friends, coaches, staff and board members. Because of the generosity of the Peter G. Helie Family Scholarship (Peter pictured above right), Chapter Trustee Jon Orszag and the Andrew and Robin Hunt Charitable Fund, our chapter awarded a record $34,000 in scholarships to these deserving students. Students pictured left to right back row: Trevor Tarashuk attending Florida Gulf Coast University in the PGA management program. Sebastian Nachilly attending Ole Miss. Tyler Mistretta attending Florida Southern College where he will play on the golf team. Students pictured left to right front row: Nyla Sims attending University of Maryland Eastern Shore where she plays on the golf team and is in the PGA management program, Savannah Mansueti attending the University of Florida. Amber Steele attending Palm Beach State College. Alison Santini attending Palm Beach Atlantic University. Nyla, Alison, Tyler and Sebastian are employees of PGA TOUR Superstore and will continue to work at the store during college holidays and summer. Our scholarship fund is available to our students to apply who remain active in First Tee and our chapter through high school. Special thank you to our scholarship committee of: Lisa Bebout, Earnie Ellison, Maria Marino, Jennifer Hong and Christopher Burr.