History

The NCGA Foundation was created in 1989 as the charitable arm of the Northern California Golf Association. The NCGA covers all overhead expenses allowing more than .90 of every dollar donated to go directly to deserving youth.

Throughout its more than 20-year history, the Foundation has strived to make golf affordable and accessible to all deserving youth in the region and has used the game, along with a life skills and core values curriculum, to help youth build strong values.

The development of the Youth on Course program in 2006 was a major step in the expansion of the Foundation’s mission. The program offers deserving youth across Northern California the opportunity to play more than 100 courses for $5 or less while participants put to use the life skills and values training they learned in their Youth on Course certified program.

The program was originally made possible by a generous gift to the NCGA Foundation from an anonymous donor in the San Francisco Bay Area. The program was developed as an extension to initiatives that first introduce the game and create and promote opportunities for kids to play more frequently.

At the end of 2007, the Foundation was honored with the First Tee Founders Award recognizing those special individuals and other entities whose support of local First Tee chapters have impacted the lives of young people in a meaningful way.

In 2008, the Foundation began bestowing scholarships in the name of former NCGA CEO Paul Porter. The Paul Porter Memorial Scholarship provides $5,000 in financial assistance to deserving youth in Northern California who will attend a four-year college or university.

In April of 2010, the Foundation was honored by a Senate concurrent resolution from the legislature of the State of California on its work encouraging and developing core values in kids through golf.

Also new in 2010 is the continuum of services for youth in underserved communities that includes clinics, nutrition education, affordable access, mentoring, internships and scholarships.