Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Super help growing the game
Local chapters donate $10,000 to First Tee
The Palm Beach and Treasure Coast chapters of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America are as committed to growing the game as they are to growing grass.
Fundraising events held by the chapters resulted in a $10,000 check presented to The First Tee of The Palm Beaches a few weeks ago at Golf Village at Admirals Cove in Jupiter.
An international organization, The First Tee teaches golf to youngsters while instilling in them core values such as integrity, confidence and perseverance to help them on and off the golf course.
The money will be used to maintain and enhance The First Tee facility in West Palm Beach, which features putting greens and a 400-yard driving range with holes that the kids can play as well as a clubhouse.
“We’ve grown dramatically every year in Palm Beach County,” executive director Carl Mistretta said, noting that the program has about 700 kids taking part in nine-week sessions and also works with Boys & Girls Clubs, inner-city youth and military veterans, many of whom were injured in combat. “We’ve had over 15 percent growth. The average is 4 percent.”
In previous years, donations from the superintendents included a maintenance building for the equipment used on the greens and range and help with fertilization and sod maintenance.
First Tee superintendent Ryan Kelly said the GCSAA also installed a booster pump to get water up to the 10-acre facility, which sits atop the former landfill that is now Dyer Park, and allowed for acid injection to lower the pH of the soil. The organization also funded a canopy for the driving range so individuals in wheelchairs can receive instruction while protected from the sun.
“We like to wow them the first time they show up,” Mistretta said. “We have kids who have played before who say, ‘Wow, this is better than where I’ve been going.’”
And ideally, that will lead to the kids becoming hooked on the game. That’s why the GCSAA is so generous.
“If kids don’t get involved in golf,” said Mark Reid, the superintendent at The Breakers in Palm Beach, “where will we sit in 25 years?”
Caddy For A Cure: The 10th annual Liberty Mutual Invitational to benefit Caddy For A Cure is Dec. 11-12 at Heron Bay Golf Club and Parkland Golf & Country Club. Proceeds help combat-wounded military veterans.
The event begins the afternoon of Dec. 11 with a nine-hole event at Heron Bay, followed by entertainment by singer and U.S. Navy veteran Dave Bray.
Golf on Dec. 12 at Parkland G&CC starts at 11 a.m. with four-player teams competing for the opportunity to advance to the national tournament in March at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra. Tournament director Russ Holden
said there is limited space in the tournament. Interested individuals and groups can contact him at 954-341-4600 or visit caddyforacure.com. Sponsorship opportunities also are available.
Dixie Amateur: The Men’s Dixie Amateur and the Women’s Dixie Amateur are both Dec. 19-22 this year. Entry fee for the tournaments is $450 and the entry deadline is Wednesday. Visit dixieamateur.com.