Celebrating its ninth year of grant giving, the SCGA Foundation has awarded $97,000 to 10 Southern California youth service organizations that use golf to teach life skills and provide educational opportunities. The grants will help the programs reach 10,000 youth throughout the Southland.
The 2010 recipients are the City of Ventura, Grandfathers for Golf, The First Tee of Ventura County, The First Tee of Coachella Valley, The First Tee of the Central Coast, The First Tee of Pasadena, The First Tee of South Los Angeles, Pro Kids Golf Academy, Tiger Woods Learning Center, and Valley Junior Golf Association.
“The SCGA Grant Program is instrumental in the growth and support of junior golf programs in Southern California,” says SCGA Foundation Executive Director Kevin Gigax. “We are pleased to partner with these programs that teach the game and its inherent values to young people.”
The grant funding supports golf course and range access, PGA instruction, transportation, educational programming after-school and on weekends, tutoring, and more. The First Tee of South Los Angeles has secured a donation for a classroom facility at the Maggie Hathaway Golf Course as a part of a growth initiative, which will allow them to do more coaching and instruction in a facility that promotes learning.
Art Dansby, CEO of The First Tee of South Los Angeles, points to two ways this funding will support the program. “The SCGA grant will allow The First Tee of South Los Angeles to serve more than 100 additional kids in 2010,” he says. “It will also subsidize transportation and increase the number of kids participating in the SCGA G.A.M.E Day program.”
Marty Remmell, the Executive Director of Pro Kids Golf Academy in San Diego, also has plans for the grant award. As part of Pro Kids’ continued efforts to improve, it has incorporated a Science of Golf curriculum in its Golf and Learning Center programming and has plans to open a second Golf and Learning Center facility in Oceanside come 2011.
“As our founder Ernie Wright said, ‘Golf is the hook education is the payoff.’ We are delighted that the SCGA Foundation believes in that ideal and supports our program,” she says. “Thanks to organizations like the SCGA Foundation, our kids participate in enrichment programs including community service projects, learning center educational opportunities, mentoring, scholarships, and more.”
The First Tee of the Central Coast will use grant funding to support its 11 sites of operation, which serve 800 young golfers and an additional 3,500 in local schools.
“We are grateful to the SCGA Foundation for their interest in young players,” says Executive Director Butch Breeden. “We are seeing such positive impacts in these young players abilities and character develop.”
Grandfathers for Golf, on the other hand, has seen a 200 percent increase this spring from past sessions.
“Our Spring 2010 session has 110 new beginners, 16 intermediates, and 24 juniors in Youth on Course,” says President Tony Viola. “The 2010 SCGA Foundation Grant is allowing Grandfathers for Golf to open its doors to many more deserving children through this funding.”
For more information on the SCGA Foundation and the programs it supports, visit scga.org/foundation.
