Sunshine at Solheim

As promised here is an overview of the Sunshine Through Golf Clinic at the Solheim Cup.

It was an early Wednesday for 35 golfers from Orland Park, Lincoln-Way, Northeast DuPage and Fox Valley SRAs. Many arrived early enough to catch Julie Inkster and Paula Creamer practice on the driving range before heading out for the practice round and grab a few autographs. The special events crew from the Solheim Cup took great care of us. They feed us lunch, gave lead golf pro Juan Espejo a microphone and allowed the Foundation the opportunity to use the world-class driving range.

Julie Inkster warming up before heading out for Wednesday’s practice round

Pros George Reid of Harborside International, Cary Ferrell of Dulles Golf Club in Maryland and Jeff Schmidt, Jason Johansen  and Cory Ferrell of Phillips Park Golf Course were on hand to give instruction to the athletes. They led a variety of stretches before teaching athletes chip shots, 7 Iron chip shots and finally breaking out the “big dog” drive. Special thanks to the Solheim and Foundation volunteers who were on hand to keep the camp running smoothly.

Pro Juan Espejo helps a golfer from Lincoln-Way SRA

After lunch provided by Solheim volunteers, the athletes headed to the FORE Kids golf area sponsored by Kids Golf Foundation for U.S.A. tattoos and other golf goodies. We even had a brush with celebrities when Brittany Lincicome and Kristy McPherson took time from signing autographs to take a picture with the Northeast DuPage SRA. NEDSRA was very excited to get this special opportunity. Thank you to everyone who made this day special for our athletes!

NEDSRA gets a special photo op with U.S.A. Team members Brittany Lincicome and Kristy McPherson

Busy, Busy at the Foundation

We have a lot going on at the Foundation this week. This morning we had the fourth of five tournaments in our tournament series. These mini tournaments are set up to give Sunshine golfers a chance to practice under Special Olympics rules while competing against players from local SRAs and are free to anyone who has gone through the camp program. We had 12 golfers from Lincoln Way, South Suburban and Oak Lawn SRAs come out to play nine holes, and boy did they come prepared to play. For some of the golfers this is their only chance to play on a course before the qualifiers in September. Look for pictures to be up on the site soon.

Tomorrow, STGF will be at the Solheim Cup at Rich Harvest Farms. We are one of the beneficiaries of the international tournament and they have invited us to come out for the day. Chicago golf pros will be teaching a clinic on the range to around 30 of our camp program participants. Afterwards, we will have lunch and watch the rest of the practice rounds. Special thanks to the LPGA for making this day happen for our campers, it’s sure to be memorable. We will make sure to post right after the event!

It maybe busy, but we prefer it that way.

Sunshine from the USGA

Not to brag or boast but there is a great article about STGF on the USGA website right now.  “One Local Champion Provides Sunshine To Illinois Golfers” has a great overview of all the programs  grants, camp program and the Sunshine Course.

The real hook of the article is Gerry Meyer. Gerry went through the camp program and now volunteers his time at the Sunshine Course here at the Midwest Golf House. He has become very involved in golf; helping coach the Orland Park Special Recreation Association, many play with a pro days and even making a huge impression on Brandt Snedeker.

We really appreciate everything the USGA has done for us, in ten years they have given us $135,640 for the Sunshine Course and other projects. This upcoming Friday, August 21 we are having a ceremony to dedicate the Sunshine Course putting green for all of the USGA’s work for STGF.

Check out the article here and quotes from our very own Alex Nolly http://www.usga.org/news/2009/July/One-Local-Champion-Provides-Sunshine-To-Illinois-Golfers/

Today Will Live In Infamy, Or At Least In Our Minds

Today, two events that shaped and will shape STGF took place. We mourn the loss of one great innovator and are looking forward to our future.

First,  Eunice Kennedy Shriver passed away this past Monday and today was this remarkable woman’s wake. As founder of the Special Olympics, we owe much to the Eunice and her movement to change the treatment of those with mental disabilities. As we work everyday with mental disabilities we understand how important the changes she made are. Mrs. Shriver did so much to lessen the stigma of mental disabilities and we owe our work to her memory. One of the highest compliments we found comes from today’s Houston Chronicle

“In 1993, U.S. News & World Report paid Shriver what is perhaps the highest compliment. Assessing her work with the Special Olympics, the newsmagazine concluded that her efforts on behalf of the mentally disabled could well be the most enduring legacy of her generation of the Kennedy family.

That is some praise. The accomplishments of the late president are formidable, and the work of Sen. Ted Kennedy, particularly in the health care arena, figures to be enduring. But the 1993 assessment just may be on the mark. She was, indeed, an agent of change for the better. “

To read the entire editorial from the Chronicle click here.

Now to change tracks completely, today the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave the thumbs up for golf to be included as an Olympic sport in the 2016 Olympics. Golf came in second to rugby and beating softball by a huge margin. Our athletes, and certainly our office, is jumping for joy at the new Olympic sport. To read Reuter’s coverage of the tense meeting click here.

We here at STGF are sad to see such a model for treatment of those with special needs move on, but today we also celebrate that the future looks bright for golf. We are off to camps to grieve/celebrate.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

A special cheering section of participants in STGF’s camp program were on hand to cheer the Go, Go White Sox into their 6 – 2 win against the L.A. Angels on Wednesday, August 5. Participants in the Marquette Park and Oak Lawn Special Recreation Association camps cheered loudly and from the starting line up all the way until the ninth inning. And they made sure to dance in the aisles and sing the seventh inning home stretch extra loud to try to get themselves on the Sox Jumbotron.

White Sox Fans from Oak Lawn SRA

 The night out to the ballgame was thanks to the Foundation’s third-annual fundraiser with the White Sox. Specially-priced tickets were sold by the Foundation. A real big thank you goes out to those who bought tickets so the camp participants could attend. If you are interested in donating to the Foundation you can find the donation form on our homepage; all donations are tax deductable.

Welcome

Welcome to the new blog for the Sunshine Through Golf Foundation. The Foundation provides the joy of golf to individuals with special needs in the Chicago area. We want this blog to be a space where we can share some amazing stories of individuals with disabilities that we have worked with and a start of a discussion for ways to enrich the lives of those with mental and physical handicaps.

This is the Foundation camp program’s tenth year of pairing golf professionals and special recreation associations across Illinois to teach the game of golf to individuals with special needs. We are very proud to have helped thousands of people each summer and see their progress when they come back year after year. The USGA has recognized the camp program as the largest grassroots golf program for individuals with disabilities and recently featured the Foundation on the homepage of the USGA’s website. You can find the article about the Foundation-supported RevelationGolf and the Sunshine Course here.

Thank you for visiting Sunshine Through Golf, we hope you enjoy future posts.