Category: Palm Beaches

To mark the end of Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month, students at Connections Education Center participated in golf lessons with their post-COVID renewed partnership with our Chapter and Drive Shack. 50 students on the spectrum enjoyed learning more about the game of golf because Drive Shack’s generosity in hosting the program. Connections Education Center is a nonprofit, Title 1 charter school in West Palm Beach that provides quality programs for students on the spectrum or who have related disabilities. Connections has partnered with our Chapter since the school was established six years ago. “We are excited to restart the program with First Tee and Drive Shack,” said Debra Johnson, Executive Director/Principal of Connections. “Our students need to get back out into the community- and thanks to the exceptional facility and staff at Drive Shack and the professionalism and patience from First Tee, this experience for our students is truly rewarding and memorable.”

Are you interested in playing 6 rounds of golf? All in one day! Still interested? Chapter Directors Marina Alex and John Hahn kicked off our 2021 CMAA 100-Hole Challenge this month at The Dye Preserve. That is correct- they played 100 holes of golf in one day to support our Chapter. Their all-day golf efforts raised over $3,400 for our children and veterans. That equates to $34 per hole in donations! “What a great way to kick off this year’s 100-Hole Challenge,” said Chapter Chairman Steve Rockoff. “We appreciate Marina’s and John’s long day of golf at The Dye Preserve to raise these funds.” Donors can still support Marina’s and John’s efforts by making a secure online donation at our 100-Hole Challenge website. Marina is a veteran professional golfer on the LPGA Tour with over three million dollars in career earnings and one career victory. John is a former professional golfer who played on the European Tour and is now a business development professional at Goldman Sachs. If your club is interested in hosting the 100-Hole Challenge to support our chapter or if individuals wish to join us to play, please contact [email protected] for more information.

Chapter President Bobby Hendel connected with PGA Tour, Champions Tour, and European Tour winner, Jesper Parnevik. Jesper and his wife, Mia, were interested in making a very large donation of golf equipment and clothing to our children and veterans. Jesper, who has played professionally throughout the world since 1986 and won 15 times, recently decided to relocate his family home and began the process of organizing and cataloging 35 years of golf equipment. The Parneviks donated over 500 individual clubs, 49 sets of irons and hundreds of pairs of shoes and clothing items. It took chapter staff multiple trips and a large truck to pick everything up. Pictured left above (left to right) loading the truck: Blake Robbins, Development Director David Trout, Jesper, Chapter President Bobby Hendel and Mia. “The students really enjoy wearing the clothes,” said Bobby Hendel. “Jesper donated hats, shirts and pants and they fit many of our participants.” Pictured right above: Students from the West Palm Beach Police Athletic League show off their inner Parnevik with Jesper’s under the brim logos.

Weekly summer camps are in progress and allow students ages 6 to 18 to learn First Tee life skills through the game of golf. Intermediate and advanced camps also being offered! Camps are offered at golf courses located throughout Palm Beach County. First Tee Summer Camp Locations: Banyan Cay Resort & Golf Boca Raton Municipal Golf Course College of Golf – Keiser University Finnegan Learning Center Dyer Park John Prince Golf Learning Center Madison Green Country Club Okeeheelee Golf Course Park Ridge Golf Course Palm Beach Par 3 Seagate Country Club The Golf Club of Jupiter Please visit our website for locations and to register your children.

In late April, friends and family gathered to remember our dear friend Richard Ekey who passed in March after spending 14 months in ICU. Richard volunteered at our facility cutting the fairways three times each week. It was his time to meditate and speak with the Lord. The chapter dedicated their new fairway mower to Richard with a gold plate commemorating his many hours spent at Dyer Park. Richard served as a board member and very active volunteer with the Big Heart Brigade. BHB has “come to the rescue” for 25 years by supporting returning wounded veterans, assisting incapacitated first responders and by feeding the less fortunate. Big Heart Brigade Board Member Chuck Dettman (pictured above right) and his wife attended the ceremony and presented a check in Richard’s honor to our chapter. Richard anchored the winning team of the 1998 FSGA Club Team Championship at PGA National won by Emerald Dunes. Other winning team members Bill Harvey, John Lipari and Carl Mistretta attended and reminisced about the four-shot victory those many years ago over Bear Lakes Country Club.

Won AJGA Junior Am, Recorded First Hole-in-One, Selected to First Tee National Championship & Earned the Rank of Eagle Scout

Chapter student Tyler Mistretta captained the winning team in the recent AJGA Junior Am at Banyan Cay Golf & Resort. The team (pictured top row left) included Chapter President Bobby Hendel, Executive Director Carl Mistretta and Chapter Ambassador Jonathan Cross. They beat chapter student Staci Pla’s team in a scorecard playoff with a net score of 17 under par. Special thanks to the Palm Beach County Sports Commission for sponsoring the Junior Am team. The very next day, Tyler recorded his first hole-in-one on hole #2 at Banyan Cay (pictured top right). He used an 8-iron on the 183-yard par 3 hole. “I just pured it right at the pin,” said Tyler. “One hop and it went in. Best shot I hit all week on one of my most favorite courses.” A few days later, Tyler was selected to play in the inaugural First Tee National Championship. The tournament will bring together First Tee chapters’ elite players from across the country for an opportunity to showcase how the program has helped build the strength of character needed to play at the collegiate level. The First Tee National Championship will be a 54-hole stroke-play event June 20-25 at Clemson University’s The Walker Course, featuring a Girls and Boys division for high school participants ages 14-19. Participants will have the opportunity to take in the “college experience” including dorm-living, an official Clemson University campus tour and dinner at the West End Zone Club of the football team’s Memorial Stadium. After a long career in scouting that began in the first grade, Tyler earned the rank of Eagle scout and celebrated with four other friends that earned the rank (pictured second row right: Nick Scalzo, Louis Rosado, Tyler, Ethan Appleby and Paul Czerniak). They each earned a $500 scholarship from Troop 155 and a matching $500 scholarship from Securion Investigations and Protective Services. During his time in Scouting, Tyler served as Troop 155’s Senior Patrol Leader and attended the 2017 National Jamboree and National Youth Leadership Training.

The Toski Junior Tournament will be held on Thursday, June 17th, 2021 at Boca Grove Golf & Tennis Club. The tournament entry fee includes lunch. Boys and Girls, ages 10-18 in three separate divisions: $65 for 18 holes (9:00 am shotgun) Boys and Girls, ages 7-9: $45 for 9 holes (approximately 11:00am) Please register on the tournament website. For more information, please email Tereza Trnkova at [email protected]or [email protected] TOSKI COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS: For high school seniors that are college-bound, please email your resume to Tereza to include your golf accomplishments, SAT score, GPA, community service hours, scholarship honors and any other extra-curricular activities. Please indicate if you are receiving a golf scholarship from the college you are attending.

For over ten years, the Palm Beach Golf Course Superintendents Association has generously supported our chapter. Each year they fund projects and expenses that help us maintain and improve the conditions at our golf facility in Dyer Park. Past projects include: two maintenance buildings to house our equipment and supplies, a booster pump to improve our irrigation water pressure, bunker and greens renovations and added drainage and irrigation heads. “To show our appreciation to the members of the PBGCSA, we hosted their members and their families for a fun day of games for their children, food and playing on our par-3 course,” said Chapter Executive Director Carl Mistretta. Both maintenance buildings were named for late PBGCSA members Neil Sheridan from the Breakers Hotel and Steven Wright from Pine Tree and Boca West. Their families were on hand to cut the ribbons and dedicate each building to their loved ones.

Weekly summer camps allow participants ages 6 to 18 to learn First Tee life skills through the game of golf. Intermediate and advanced camps also being offered! Camps are offered at golf courses located throughout Palm Beach County. Please visit our website for locations and to register your children. Camp locations include: Banyan Cay Resort & Golf Finnegan Learning Center Dyer Park John Prince Learning Center Madison Green Country Club Okeeheelee Golf Course Palm Beach Par 3 Park Ridge Golf Course Seagate Country Club The Golf Club of Jupiter

Florida Wildlife Commission Commissioner Gary Nicklaus contacted our Chapter to propose a golf and fishing pilot program. As a professional golfer and avid fisherman, Gary understands that the lakes on golf courses are typically rarely fished. Combining golf and fishing presents an incredible opportunity to bring together two sports that share in outdoor recreation. First Tee – Palm Beaches was recently awarded the Regional Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network 2021 Outstanding Partner Grand Prize Winner. We selected a GoPro camera as our prize, and it recently arrived. Pictured above are members or our Teen Golf Association with the camera and accessories. Look out for new videos!