2019 JUNIOR GOLF/ GROWTH OF THE GAME FINANCIAL GRANT
In collaboration with
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview of Junior Golf/ Growth of the Game Financial Grant...page 2 Clubs For Kids…………………………………………………………...page 3 Corry YMCA Golf Program……………………………………………..page 8 General McLane Golf Boosters………………………………………page 11 Glen Oak GC Tee it Forward Initiative………………………………page 15 Lakeside CC School Program………………………………………..page 18 LPGA Girls Golf Rochester…………………………………………...page 21 Mill Creek GC Operation 36…………………………………………..page 24 Southern Meadows GC City Golf……………………………………page 27 FY 2019 Grant Impact
Analysis…………………………………….page 32
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OVERVIEW OF THE JUNIOR GOLF/ GROWTH OF THE GAME FINANCIAL GRANT GRANT OVERVIEW In 2019 the WNYPGA REACH Foundation, in collaboration with the New York State Golf Association and the Rochester District Golf Association, will provide grants to junior golf/growth of the game programs that meet the established program criteria. The goal is to award a maximum of $10,000 in grants based on the number of applications that meet the criteria. We encourage all Western New York PGA Members and Associates to offer a youth/growth of the game program at their facilities or within their communities and to utilize this grant program to initiate the process or to enhance and strengthen an existing program.
PGA REACH WNY HISTORY AND MISSION The PGA REACH WNY Foundation (Western New York PGA Foundation, Inc.) was founded in 2010 by local PGA Professionals of the Western New York Section, PGA of America. The Foundation was created with the goal of providing support to various organizations in the Western New York Section through the game of golf. PGA REACH WNY will look to fund programs supporting its mission including the Western New York Section PGA Junior Golf and various underprivileged youth golf programs. The Foundation will strive to fund, conduct, and/or support these initiatives and many others that serve under the founding pillars – Youth, Military and Diversity in golf. EVALUATION CRITERIA A committee comprised of the members of the PGA REACH WNY Board of Trustees, a NYSGA representative, and an RDGA representative are assigned to review grant requests. The committee conducts initial reviews and determines if all information required is provided. The committee may meet or speak with the candidate further if required. The committee then determines the benefits of each grant request and makes recommendations to the entire PGA REACH WNY Board of Trustees, which makes the final decision. Junior Golf/Growth of the Game Grant Criteria/Consideration: 1.) Program must have a WNYPGA Member or Associate involved. 2.) Programs must target ages 18 and under, individuals with disabilities, military or diverse populations. 3.) Grant application must include a budget and explanation of how the grant funds are to be used. 4.) Grants will be limited to (1) per facility at a maximum of $2,000 each. Additional grant request will be considered if there is funding available and if the additional request is for a different program targeting different demographics, program goals, etc. 5.) Consideration will be given to span and benefit to the community. 6.) Grant recipients will be asked to provide a follow-up report outlining the results of the program and the perceived impact on growing the game. All 2019 Grant recipients must provide a follow-up report to be eligible to receive a grant in 2020. 7.) Along with the follow-up report, documentation and explanation of how the grant money was used must be provided.
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CLUBS FOR KIDS
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Dear WNYPGA, RDGA and NYSGA, Thank you for giving the YMCA of Corry the opportunity to apply for your grant and the financial assistance to offer our Youth Golf Program again this past summer, 2019. Grant funds were used in the following: Supplies purchased included but not limited to: Junior clubs, a variety of golf balls, tees, shirts, healthy snacks and drinks, awards for programming use and dinner for end of program family dinner. Our goal is to continue to grow this valuable program for our community. We sincerely appreciate the generosity from the WNYPGA, NYSGA and the RDGA and hope that we can partner in the future. Sincerely Lisa Cox Associate Executive Director YMCA of Corry 906 N Center St Corry Pa 16407
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YMCA Youth Golf Program We have had a great start to our returning summer golf program. We thank you for allowing us to give your child this amazing opportunity. We are pleased to inform you that the North Hills Golf Course is extending the “Open Golfing (with an adult) on Fridays from 1-4 PM, Just as the Corry Country Club is allowing kids with an adult to golf holes 1-4 between the hours of 1 and 4pm. Please stop in the club house and register prior to golfing. Also, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU THANK THEM! Reminder that the next two weeks of golf will be held at the Country Club. Golf polos will be ordered and distributed upon arrival. Thank you to our sponsors Rossbachers, Erie Insurance, Viking Plastics and the Northwestern NY PGA Please feel free to pass along the invitation to our program to others! Thank YOU Lisa, Skip, Ron, Greg, Greg
Testimonial To Whom It May Concern: Coach Skip and the YMCA of Corry volunteers provide a fun and engaging youth golf program. Using games, challenges and fun competitions, the kids are excited to come back each day to learn more and improve their skills. Val Watrous
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GENERAL MCLANE GOLF BOOSTERS
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Glen Oak Tee It Forward Initiative Thank you for the opportunity to help us get the ball rolling on our “Tee It Forward” initiative at Glen Oak. As you know, the game is always looking for ways to attract and retain golfers. Golfers who do not start the game or quit have their reasons of “it’s too difficult”, “it’s not fun anymore”, “courses are too long and my game just can’t keep up” and other reasons along the same line. With not many public courses offering more forward tees or a course set-up that allows all levels of players to hit a green in regulation, we saw an opportunity to set an example for the rest of the courses in the area. The program we are following is the Longleaf tee System. This system has been accepted by the ASGCA and US Kids Golf as “an affordable way to scale their course in a manner that will enable more players to enjoy playing golf…”. By instituting this tee system, we will be able to offer a full course layout for golfers of all age, gender and skill level. As we started the process, it started to come together and required a lot of trial and error to find the right way to set up Glen Oak. By using an overhead online map, we were able to get a layout of every hole and accurate locations of where each tee should be located to provide a new 7 tee course layout. We went with all seven plates for 18 holes. They are $500 for each 18-plate set, so the $1500 we received from the grant was able to cover almost half of what the total cost came out to. After getting the plates, and once every hole had its basic layout, the next step was to go through and input the correct yardages each hole should play to allow each player to play a course where every hole gives them the opportunity to hit the green in regulation and a putt at birdie. This way a very tedious process and took many hours to get the correct numbers down and be able to match the proper tee location on each hole. After having gone through the process, it was found that majority of our current tee structures would only host 3-4 of the new tee system, with the other 3-4 needing tee boxes created in front of what we already have. If are going to create a new Forward Tee system at our facility, we want the Forward (or Scoring) tees to look presentable and not like an afterthought. We were able to use some of our forward tee locations for our PGA Jr League this past year with very positive results. The PGA Jr League is an opportunity for young golfers to experience the game of golf on the course, instead of just on the range. By having these forward tees available, it gave the kids an opportunity to enjoy the game without getting too frustrated. Due to the extensive planning and layout design work that has gone into the new course layout, we have yet to purchase the set of tee plates from the previous years grant. We want to be able to order all sets at the same time to ensure consistency and accuracy of the work being done. This is a major change to our course and we want to make sure that we do it the right way the first time. We are planning to order the tee markers this winter at the PGA Merchandise show with placement beginning in the spring.
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PGA Jr League Player Feedback “It was Will’s first real experience with competitive team golf and he loved it.” “I am always preaching to friends about how great this program is and to sign up so hopefully there will be increased interest next season.”
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Tee It Forward Budget
Glen Oak Tee System
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LAKESIDE JUNIOR PROGRAMS
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Lakeside Junior Programs First off, we would like to thank the Western New York Section, the NYSGA and the RDGA for the opportunity to grow our junior golf program. Last year’s grant was very helpful in expanding our junior programs and increasing our efforts to introduce golf to juniors. This grant truly helped Lakeside increase its junior golf program in 2019, as we saw more participants in our summer programs and with the addition of a First Tee program. The success we saw in 2019 should continue through the 2020 season as we plan on reaching more juniors through our school programs in the winter and early spring, projecting more participants in our First Tee Program, and greater participation in our summer programs, and increased junior memberships at the club. The funds of the grant were spent in the following way: • Birdie Ball equipment – hitting mats and birdie balls were purchased to replace damaged and old equipment. • Range improvements – a portion of the grant was used with other donated funds to put in an alternate tee on the range with synthetic mats to use during our junior programs. • “Tee Gifts” for participants – our summer program participants received a logoed towel and sleeve of golf balls. • Drinks and snacks – remaining funds were used to provide snacks and drinks for our junior participants.
Thank you again for providing the opportunity for Lakeside Country Club continue to grow our junior golf program. Testimonial October 25th, 2019 Dear Bob King, All the kids from St. Michael’s school just wanted to say thank you for another successful clinic. They really loved the new driving range mats. It really made them feel like it was their own driving range. They also can’t stop talking about the birdie ball blow up target that you use. Look forward to next spring/fall.
Sincerely, Mrs. Hailey Zimmer 2nd Grade Teacher St. Michael School
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LPGA USGA GIRLS GOLF OF GREATER ROCHESTER
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2019 JUNIOR GOLF/ GROWTH OF THE GAME FINANCIAL GRANT IMPACT ANALYSIS TOTAL INITIAL IMPACT: 399—499 CHILDREN throughout Rochester, Buffalo and Northwest Pennsylvania. PARTICPATION IN EACH PROGRAM CLUBS FOR KIDS: 80 CHILDREN CORRY YMCA: 50-100 CHILDREN GENERAL MCLANE GOLF BOOSTERS: 9 CHILDREN GLEN OAK TEE IT FORWARD: 50 CHILDREN LAKESIDE GOLF PROGRAMS: 50-100 CHILDREN
LPGA USGA GIRLS GOLF OF GREATER ROCHESTER: 80 CHILDREN OPERATION 36: 20 CHILDREN SOUTHERN MEADOWS GROWTH OF THE GAME INITIATIVES: 60 CHILDREN
We define the initial impact as the number of children we impacted on the day of and during the program/ clinic hours. After looking at last years participation, we have had a large impact on children participation. We have increased each of these programs from 2018 by roughly 80—100 children. Looking at it objectively this is a great first step, increasing our program participation by 20%. However, this does not begin to tell the story of the real impact this grant has made For programs like Clubs For Kids, the Corry YMCA, Lakeside Golf Programs and Southern Meadows, they provide programs for boys and girls who would not have access to golf without these opportunities. From first hand information from our PGA Professionals to the testimonials we receive from parents and the communities impacted, these programs not only help grow the game, but they supply the game to children who couldn’t access it before and to children who are looking for an outlet in their communities. Outlets to meet new friends, to learn a game they are interested in and to learn about potential opportunities for their futures.
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In programs like Tee It Forward at Glen Oak GC and Operation 36, we see new programs being offered to existing members and future golfers of the game of golf. These programs allow the children already in the Junior Systems to continue to grow their games, challenge themselves and improve with instruction from some of the WNYPGA’s best instructors. These programs are helping not only grow the game, but also preserve it for the future to benefit the NYSGA, RDGA and the WNYPGA and PGA of America as a whole.
With programs like the General McLane Golf Boosters and the LPGA USGA Girls Golf Program, we are helping children who have a passion for golf already gain access to engage in golf. The Booster Program for General McLane High School was able to create a Golf Program at their school, with coaches and instructors, for children to compete in high school golf. They are also looking to start a a girls’ team for the next season and continue growing golf in their school district. The LPGA USGA Program has had huge numbers, increasing by almost 20 girls from the past season. With the funds they were able to make improvements to the Ravenwood facility and allow more girls the opportunity to participate and benefit from the game of golf. To conclude, our initial impact for 2019 was significant, but there is still much work to do. We saw increases in participation and improvement in the facilities hosting the events, helping to make a huge positive impact on children now. However, our biggest success this year with this grant comes from the impact on the children, programs and communities moving forward. This grant has allowed our PGA Professionals to make massive improvements to their programs to support a growing future in the game of golf. Moving forward, we only see a growing reach in our WNYPGA community with the help of these programs, funds from the grant program and the dedication of our WNYPGA Professionals. Thank you for your time and consideration and we look forward to hearing from the committee on your consideration to once again support this join grant initiative in 2020.
“WORKING TOGETHER TO POSITIVELY IMPACTING LIVES THROUGH THE GAME OF GOLF”