Gardens teen honored at Players
He discovered, turned in $1,500 found during autism awareness walk.
JUPITER — Billy Reid was walking along the beach north of the Juno Beach Pier when he spotted a $100 bill lying in the sand. And then another. And another ...
Billy, 14, was the only one of about a dozen people from the Teen Golfers Association of the First Tee of the Palm Beaches who noticed the total of $1,500 lying in the sand during an autism awareness walk in early April.
A stranger in her mid-30s was stunned that she had missed the money when she saw Billy hold it up.
“Her mouth was wide open,” the Palm Beach Gardens teen said. “The people around me were pretty surprised.”
Billy motioned back to his sister, Quinn, a board member with the teen group. He knew what he had to do. The First Tee had drilled values such as honesty and integrity into his mind.
“If I was in that situation, I would definitely want that person that found it to turn it in so I could get it back,” Billy said.
He turned in the money to a Juno Beach police officer patrolling in the nearest parking lot, who put it in an evidence bag and turned it over to police in Jupiter, where Billy technically found the money.
No one has claimed the money, said Jupiter police spokeswoman Kristin Rightler. It will stay in evidence for 90 days, and then Billy may be entitled to it, she said. If someone does try to claim it, police would do a thorough investigation to make sure the money really belongs to that person.
Police have no indication the money was involved in any illegal activity before Billy found it.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Keith Dawkins, The First Tee CEO, recognized Billy for doing the right thing. He got a sneak peek of The First Tee Experience at The Players Championship held recently in Ponte Vedra Beach.
The First Tee Experience is an air-conditioned venue that features golf-themed games, social media activities and ways for fans to practice trick shots. Billy won a golf-simulator competition with Monahan, Dawkins and former Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and was treated to a day at The Players.
Meeting the commissioner and the CEO was a “special moment,” Billy said.
Dawkins, a former Nickelodeon executive, said Billy’s story “caught like wildfire.”
“Our world was buzzing with it,” Dawkins said.
Golf needs to do a better job of promoting values, not just improving swing speed and grip, he said. The First Tee is about creating lifelong golfers and better people.
It’s clear Billy surrounds himself with great family and friends, even beyond the First Tee, Dawkins said. Billy’s dad, Mark, is the director of golf and grounds maintenance at The Breakers, and Billy’s grandfather was a golf course superintendent in Australia.
Billy will enter the sports management program at Palm Beach Gardens High School in the fall.
His mom was surprised to hear about his find when he got home.
“When people heard about the story afterward, most people said, ‘I would have kept the money,’ ” Denise Reid said. “He’s learned a lot from The First Tee, and he has a conscience.”
It was very emotional to see how many people praised him and how they interacted with him at the tournament, she said.
“He was really treated like he did something phenomenal, which he did,” Reid said.