Category: Treasure Coast

BGC PORT SALERNO HOSTED BY CHAMPIONS CLUB

Huge SHOUT OUT to the staff at The Champion’s Club for joining in on the fun with the kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Port Salerno. Special THANK YOU to the Champions Club at Summerfield for donating their beautiful golf facilities to our chapter students.

Chapter Coach and Chapter Program Coordinator, Steven Andrade, taught the lesson of Confidence with the students of Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County – Port Salerno!

SEE YOU AT THE RIBBON CUTTING

Our Chapter has funded the construction of a new 35,000 square foot artificial turf golf learning facility at the Boys & Girls Club of St. Lucie County Westside Club Complex. The facility is complete, and you are invited to the Ribbon Cutting on Monday, February 7th at 3:00pm. Please RSVP to 772-460-9918.

REGISTRATION OPEN FOR PROGRAMS

Enroll your children in our First Tee programs as golf is the sport of business and the sport of a lifetime!

Our program locations include:
• Champions Club
• Crane Watch
• Fairwinds Golf Course
• Jensen Beach Golf Club
• Saints at Port St. Lucie Golf Club
• Trident Golf Club

For more information and to register, please visit our website.

PROGRAM PARTNER SPOTLIGHT – BGC INFINITY

Coach Jim DeLarme, PGA delivers our program weekly to children at the Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Lucie County – Infinity Club. They play golf, run relay races and enjoy the afternoon outside with their peers. Our Chapter partners with after-school programming providers to bring golf to children that may have not otherwise have the opportunity to learn the game of golf and inherent life skills that the game teaches seamlessly. Thank you to all our trained Coaches and program partners for making a difference in our community.

CONGRATS PARTICIPANT, VOLUNTEER, AND COACH OF THE YEAR

Participant of the Year: Katie Harwood is an ACE level participant at Crane Watch Club with Coach Bo Bachelor. She has been in the First Tee program for 8 years and volunteers her time back to the younger children in the PLAYER class. Katie is a senior at Martin County High School and is excited to attend college in the fall. 

Volunteer of the Year: Anthony Graham is a dedicated volunteer at Fairwinds Golf Course assisting Coach Willie Scott and Mark Cammarene, PGA. He has been volunteering with First Tee programs for over 2 years. 

Coach of the Year: Willie Scott is our Lead Coach at Fairwinds Golf Course. He leads Saturday morning programs and also coaches veterans and First Tee programs at the Boys & Girls Club of St. Lucie County and many other outreach programs. Willie enjoys working with his fellow veterans and the many children and teens in his First Tee programs.

JOIN US FOR THE RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY

Our Chapter has funded the construction of a new 35,000 square foot artificial turf golf learning facility at the Boys & Girls Club of St. Lucie County Westside Club Complex. The facility is nearly complete, and you are invited to the Ribbon Cutting on Monday, February 7th at 3:00pm. Please RSVP to 772-460-9918.

BACK TO SCHOOL = BACK TO GOLF

Holiday break is over and we are beginning our spring programs. Enroll your children as golf is the sport of business and the sport of a lifetime!

Our program locations include:
• Champions Club
• Crane Watch
• Fairwinds Golf Club
• Jensen Beach Golf Club
• Saints at Port St. Lucie Golf Club

For more information and to register, please visit our website.

CHAPTER WINS 2021 100-HOLE CHALLENGE

Our Chapter to date has raised over $20,000.00 this year. Thank you to all our donors and players for this incredible support. Of course, the real winners are the thousands of children and veterans that participate in our programs because of the generosity of these clubs. Our three Chapters combined (Palm Beaches, Treasure Coast and Broward) raised the most money this year with an incredible $201,183! Chapter Director Jen Hong kicked off this year’s event and raised $1,593. Two of our Directors, RJ Bibby and Richard Chase, are still fundraising. RJ is leading the individual category with $3,362 and Harbour Ridge led the club fundraising this year with $15,464. Please visit our website to donate. Special congratulations to the Seminole Region Charity Committee members who worked so hard to make all this happen. For the 11th year, the charities beat prior year’s number and set a new record of $430,000 raised. Since inception, CMAA has raised over $2.4 million to support South Florida charities.

CHAPTER ALUMNA FINISHES IN 1ST PLACE

Annery Abreu is attending Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina and playing in the #1 position on their golf team. She recently finished in 1st place in the individual division at the Eastern Shore Collegiate Golf Challenge in Ocean City, Maryland. Congrats Annery!

STEVEN ANDRADE JOINS THE CHAPTER TEAM

We are delighted to announce that Steven Andrade has joined our Chapter in the position of Program Coordinator. Steven’s main goal will be to grow our organization by recruiting new program locations, youth serving program partners, coaches, volunteers and ultimately new students. Steven has served as a Chapter Coach, Assistant Golf Professional at the Champion’s Club, and brings end-to-end management experience in the hospitality industry. Steven loves golf, his family, and the Dallas Mavericks.

KEN DUKE & FRIENDS HOST FANTASTIC EVENT

Due to the pandemic, the 2020 event was cancelled, but the recent 5th Annual Ken Duke & Friends Celebrity Pro-Am was a huge success. The event began with dinner at Carson’s Tavern. The next night featured a live auction and dinner at Floridian National Golf Club. Representatives from each benefitting charity spoke including Folds of Honor, Project Lift, Martin County North Little League Baseball and our Chapter. The next morning, Jack Nicklaus greeted the tournament’s largest field of 120 players at breakfast in support of Ken’s event and the benefiting charities (Jack and Ken pictured above middle). The players teed it up at Floridian in a scramble format. Celebrity players included John Daly, Ernie Els, Seth Joyner, Jim McMahon, Michelle McGann and Brandon Weeden. A gross score of 19-under par, 53, won the scramble, but of course the real winners were the charities. The 3-day event raised a new record $550,000. “Ken is such a great asset to First Tee – Treasure Coast,” said Chapter President Andrew Hunt. “His generosity to our children and veterans from this tournament and his leadership as a chapter Director represent such incredible dedication. Everyone at the event was touched by the people Ken supports through this event.” At the dinner at Floridian, Ken Duke and Friends presented a game changing impactful check of $50,000 to our Chapter (pictured above right, left to right: Chapter Executive Director Carl Mistretta, Chapter Director Ken Duke, Chapter President Andrew Hunt, Chapter Director Wes Hightower).

ANNUAL APPEAL TIME WITH MATCHING GRANT FROM CHARLES SCHWAB

Special thanks to our many donors this year. Your contributions have helped us grow our programming serving children and veterans. Our last fundraising campaign of the year is our Annual Appeal. There is a new wrinkle this year with a matching grant. Charles R. Schwab has committed transformational support through a new $25 million grant will provide up to a $1 match for every $2 donated to First Tee Chapters by individuals, corporations and foundations now through 2026. This grant program will provide our chapter the opportunity to significantly grow and deepen our impact over the next several years. “I believe in the power of investing to help individuals create a better tomorrow,” said Charles R. Schwab. “That’s why I am investing in First Tee. I believe in this organization’s mission and the power of the First Tee Chapters to continue changing the game for young people for years to come.” Please visit our Annual Appeal secure online donation webpage or checks can be mailed directly to: First Tee – Treasure Coast Children’s Services Council of Martin County 101 SE Central Pkwy Stuart, FL 34994 The program was kicked off at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the final event on the PGA TOUR Champions schedule. Pictured above: First Tee —participants Abi Morris and Jake Walden played alongside Charles Schwab and Phil Mickelson in the Wednesday pro-am.