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Growing the Game: Neighborhood Golf
The Southern California PGA Neighborhood Golf program visited the PGA TOUR’s Humana Challenge January 19-22, 2012. SCPGA staff and PGA professionals were on hand to give free lessons to tournament goers using our Birdie Ball inflatable hitting cage and artificial putting greens. The young and old flocked to the lesson area, the lessons sparked interest in a few to become more active in the game. Participants won prizes for hitting a hole-in-one including PGA logoed sports bottles, magnets, and stress reliever golf balls.
Thank you to the following PGA Professionals for volunteering their time: Sharon Fletcher – Shadow Mountain Golf Club, Barry Clayton – Westin Mission Hills Resort, Charles DeLorey – Indian Canyons Golf Club, John Shelden – Mountain View Country Club, Mike Kingsrud – Orange Whip Representative, Gary Lynk – Tradition Golf Club, Jerry Elwell – Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort, Dave Shackelford – Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort, Jeff Beier – Westin Mission Hills Resort, John Klug – Mission Lakes Country Club, Robert Burke – Unaffiliated, and Tom Anton – College Golf Center.
Thank you also to Kimberly Paige, Merri Daniels, Ryan Branning, Thomas Camaione, and Mallory Prest for their hardwork over the week.
The SCPGA Foundation and Neighborhood Golf are continually looking for opportunities to visit communities with our Birdie Ball hitting cage. The Southern California PGA is dedicated to promoting and growing the game of golf.
The SCPGA Neighborhood Golf visited the Nice Guys Community Christmas Party at Qualcomm Stadium December 10th, 2011. Over 5,000 children and adults participated in the event which was supported by local businesses and the Nice Guys Charity. Many participants were families of active duty military. The events featured carnival rides and clowns and activities such as karate, face painting, and making their own Holiday cards. Families received grocery bags full of necessities and even a turkey to help them celebrate the holiday season!
The SCPGA Foundation was on hand to teach mini-golf lessons to kids who were holding a golf club for the very first time. The families received prizes and information on the SCPGA, as well as coupons to visit Carlsbad Golf Center and Riverwalk Golf Course.
Nice Guys is a non-profit, charitable organization serving the citizens of San Diego who cannot meet life’s demands. They have been “offering a hand up, not a handout” for over 30 years.
The SCPGA Foundation and Neighborhood Golf are continually looking for opportunities to visit communities with our Birdie Ball hitting cage. The Southern California PGA is dedicated to promoting and growing the game of golf.
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SCPGA Foundation staff were on hand at the University of Scouting Annual event (Boys Scouts of America) at Saint Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs, CA on December 3, 2011. The event had over 500 participants from the Los Angeles area including Youth and Adult Scout Leaders. The Neighborhood Golf booth provided complimentary golf instruction with the inflatable Birdie Ball hitting cage which was one of the biggest draws at the event. With Southern PGA sports bottles and stress reliever golf balls up for grabs, our hitting cage was definitely being taken advantage of by all of the attendees. The next event for the SCPGA Neighborhood Golf Program will be the Nice Guys charity event at Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday December 10th. The Southern California PGA is committed to promoting and growing the game of golf.
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On the 31st of October the SCPGA took its traveling trailer of things that go bump in the night to the Riverside Parks and Recreation Department’s annual Riverside Fall Festival. The Festival was full of kids of all ages in and out of costumes to celebrate one of the spookiest nights of the year! Lessons were generously given by PGA Professionals Jim Dame and Bob Gronnel from Goose Creek Golf Club. A special thank you goes out to Janet Magna from the Riverside Parks and Recreation Department for giving us the opportunity to participate in the Fall Festival. Also we would like to thank Jim and Bob for taking the time to attend this event and help us by giving a lot of great lessons to some pretty scary customers!
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The SCPGA attended the Cal State Dominguez Es El Momento Education Fair on October 22nd, which drew a record number 40,000 people. The event empowers Latino parents and students with information and resources to help them succeed in California’s educational system. The fair provided the perfect forum for the SCPGA to promote its Growth of the Game program, to perspective new players. As is always the case the Birdie Ball Net was once again a crowd pleaser. For eight hours a non-stop line of people, most of whom had never held a golf club in their hands, waited patiently to take a swing with the hopes of winning a PGA Sports Bottle. A special thank you goes out to Azucena Maldonado, from the Latina Golfer’s Association. Azucena, who is fluent in Spanish, provided invaluable assistance as a translator for this event, and helped to manage the throngs of people who were waiting in line.
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On the 18th of October the SCPGA participated in a golf clinic for veterans with disabilities at the Navy Golf Course in Seal Beach. Joe Grohman, the Navy Golf Course Head PGA Professional, has been doing these clinics for six years. He has also been doing clinics for Wounded Warriors for four years, clinics for children with special educational needs for seven years and junior clinics for the blind for the past 11 years. Joe enlists the help of LPGA and PGA professionals to help make these clinics possible. There were also members from active duty military organizations, military retirees, the SCPGA and golfers from all walks of life that helped with this event. At the conclusion of the two hour clinic, which included putting and chipping clinics and time on the driving range, the Navy Golf Course hosted a complimentary luncheon for all the Veterans and Volunteers who participated. Brigadier General (RET) Tim Grogan was the guest speaker for the luncheon. Special thanks go out to the PGA Professionals who volunteered their time for this event; Dave Stephens, Dan Monday, Steve Dewitt, Larry Brown, Larry Barquist, John Hall, Jim Razetto, Ed Kearns, Mike Bielsik and Roman Gonzales, a PGA Apprentice who works for the Tiger Woods Foundation and to LPGA Professional Melissa Stephens. Also in attendance to support the clinics were active duty military members from the Marines 5th Battalion, 14th Marines, Chiefs and 1st Class Petty Officers from the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. Clay and Ian Mcutcheon from L.A. County Junior Golf and Bill Davis a National Champion Blind Golfer also assisted with the clinic. Pete Lowry provided his specialty designed clubs, putters and other equipment for use during the clinic. A very special thank you goes out to Joe Grohman who made it all possible. His selfless acts of giving of both his time and energy to this and other worthwhile projects, are making golf accessible and enjoyable to people with a wide variety of special needs. Joe is making a positive contribution to the world of golf, by helping to grow the game in specialty areas and more importantly Joe is providing a forum which significantly impacts and improves the lives of both the participants and the volunteers of these clinics.
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 Richie Ramirez (front center), his dad Juan (back center), and brothers Isaiah (right) and Robert (left) enjoyed their first golf experience. They are holding seven of his nine sports bottles he won by knocking in nine holes-in-one. The SCPGA loaded up its Bridie Ball Interactive Hitting Net and headed to San Bernardino, on the 15th of September, to attend the opening weekend of the League Cup Soccer Tournaments. The League Cup is one of the largest youth soccer tournaments in Southern California. While,there were many talented players who took on the Birdie Ball golf challenge, none were as talented as young Richie Ramirez. Richie, a six year old soccer player who had never held a golf club in his hands before, broke every Birdie Ball record which had been previously set by even the most seasoned golfers. Richie took 11 turns at the Birdie Ball net. Each turn allows for 5 hits. In nine of his 11 turns, he made a hole in one! Richie, whose gallery grew with every turn, seemed undisturbed by the cheering and chanting that came from the crowd, as he took the club in his hands , stepped up to the ball, and took his aim. Richie, who wore a continuous smile, said “I never knew golf was this fun!” Richie won nine PGA sports bottles as a result of his skill, and said “I am going to share these with my family and my friends.” Richie’s dad Juan Ramirez was beaming with pride as he watched his son play. Mr. Ramirez said “I think I need to get him some lessons.”
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On October 8, 2011, the SCPGA hit the road once again with its Neighborhood Golf Program, to participate in the General Old Golf Course, biannual Demo Day. The Demo Day event hosts several vendors to include Callaway, Taylor Made and Adams Golf. Kiki Garcia, The General Olds’ PGA, Head Professional, has been at the course for 15 years. Kiki said “This event is always a big hit with golfers. “ He followed with, “This Demo Day was very successful.” And he added, “We had a great turn out and people had a lot of fun!” Food and beverages were also on sale throughout the day. People were standing in line, anxiously waiting for the opportunity to order what Kiki claims are “World Famous Carne Asada Tacos, from the General Old Grill.” As always, there were golfers of all ages who enjoyed trying out the Birdie Ball net. Their hopes of winning a much coveted PGA sports bottle, kept several players coming back over and over again! We would like to give a special thanks to Kiki Garcia for inviting the SCPGA, to participate in Demo Day. Also we have to thank, Kiki’s son Max, for all the help he gave with the set up and tear down of the Birdie Ball net. Last and certainly not least a very special thanks is in order for Coach Rance Garret, the Golf Coach from Martin Luther King High School and to the members of the MLK girls Varsity and Junior Varsity Golf Team. A special shout out to each of the girls, Breanna Jones, Jessica Marine, Cassidy Anderson, Lexi Harlow-Anderson, Reysha Patel, Minhyo Kang, Savannah Wens and Heather Salfrank for all your help! You all did a great job assisting the golfers who wanted to give the Birdie Ball their best shot!
The next Neighborhood Golf event will be October 15th & 16th at the San Bernardino Soccer Tournament.
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