On June 24, two of my closest golf buddies and I will be walking 100-plus holes at one of the best tracks around in Ballyneal Golf Club. Some of you may be asking, “What would possess someone to walk 100-plus holes in a single day (approximately equivalent to 6 rounds of golf or 45 miles)?” Simply put, I can’t think of a better way to take my passion for golf to raise awareness and money for organizations that make the local Bay Area community a better place for underserved youth, and to grow the game of golf. My goal is to raise a total of $10,000 for two incredible organizations:

- NCGA Foundation: Youth on Course

I started playing golf when I was 11 years old. My parents were refugees from Vietnam and working class people. There wasn’t a single golfer in my family, so no one could have predicted how big an impact golf would have on my life. Youth on Course is a program of the Northern California Golf Association Foundation that reaches out to diverse communities to ensure that all deserving youth receive the opportunity to enjoy this great game. The program ingrains core values including responsibility, honesty, perseverance and sportsmanship and gives access to low-income Bay Area youth to play dozens of golf courses for $5.

- East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC)

As a graduate student studying healthcare policy at the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, I’ve become increasingly concerned with the growing rates of obesity amongst our youth. The East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) serves all demographics of Oakland youth and strives to create a culture of wellness in Oakland schools by developing programs that bring healthier foods into local schools and encouraging kids to become more active. They are making an impact in Oakland neighborhoods and I’m proud to support them.

How can you get involved?

1) Pledge a donation on the HHH website. Click on my “pledge now” tab and donate to these worthy causes. Any amount, large or small, will make a huge difference! No donation is too small.
2) Follow me (@vansnguyen) and the Hundred Hole Hike (@100holehike) on Twitter and Facebook for updates on the event.
3) Tell your friends! Please share my link with your friends and through social media.

Thank you for all your support! Your encouragement and well wishes are greatly appreciated. I am looking forward to the challenge!

–Vans Nguyen

Bay Area Pinseekers Golf Club

Pictured from left to right:

Four-man teams were paired with a local professional in a modified shamble format in which each team selected the best drive of all five members. Each individual then played his or her own ball from there through the completion of the hole.

The InterWest Insurance Services team won the Pro-Am gross title with a 61. Team members included Pat Hoffman, Shawn Blofsky, Tony Pozas, Eric Blofsky, and professional Mick Soli. Club Car finished second, one stroke back. Dave Nelson, Kevin Rosa, Eric Andrews, Scott Hoyt and professional Ashley Marsay made up the team.

The Monument Administrators team captured the net title, posting a 52 with the aid of professional Jason Owen. Team members were Dave Bramwell, Jim Smallwood, LJ Bettalagies, and Mike Der Manouel. The Viking Steel team, which included Dan Hansford, Bob Nebozuk, Jay Clifton, Brian Morse and professional Todd Fischer, took second after carding a 53.

Jason Schumhl fired a 69 to win the professional division. Todd Fischer netted second place with a 70.

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Five years ago, everything I knew about the NCGA fit in my back pocket it was the card that had my handicap on it.

Today, I have a much better sense of our Association, which provides a range of member benefits and competitive opportunities a roster second to none, as you might expect from one of the largest regional golf associations in the country.

Here’s something you might not expect: the NCGA Foundation, operating as the charitable arm of the Association, is changing lives. That’s right-no hyperbole here-we have already reached some 30,000 kids, using golf to offer development opportunities to deserving youth. And kids are saying “yes” to that opportunity. It’s all under the umbrella of our program, Youth on Course.

Youth on Course is for the child who’s never picked up a club, for the family who needs a way to
spend more time together and for the young golfer who just can’t get enough of this great game. It’s given timid kids a chance to make friends, prompted youngsters with no goals to set ambitious ones, shown youth from Salinas an ocean they never knew was only 30 miles away and provided an open door to work in an industry previously thought to be off-limits.

And, we are just getting started!
Now, we are partnering with community non-profits to offer introductory clinics, internships and college scholarships for at-risk kids. We mayor may not create the next great golfer, but I know for sure we are offering kids a chance to create a better future for themselves. It’s all about youth development using golf as the tool, and we now have more than 120 facilities at which our kids will never pay more than $5 for a round of golf.

Did you have the chance to play golf in your youth? I sure did, and this wonderful, frustrating test of one’s make-up hooked me from the very beginning. Now I am very pleased to be part of the effort bringing the game to more kids who may well need the game more than you or I ever did.

You can be a part of the campaign to provide Youth on Course a better future and, frankly, we need your help. There are thousands of kids in Northern California who need an “18-hole intervention.” Please visit www.youthoncourse.org and make a contribution of any size. While you’re at it, tell us how the program has impacted your family or become our friend on Facebook.

The NCGA generously covers the majority of overhead expenses of the NCGA Foundation which means more than 90 cents of every dollar donated supports our kids. If you are business oriented, we offer a great return on investment. If you like to “do good,” there’s nothing I’ve been a part of that tops what we’re doing through Youth on Course.
Please join us today.

Sincerely,
Paul F. Morton
NCGA Foundation Board President

Northern California natives Jason Goldman, Matthew Goldman and Chris Qvale discuss their passion for golf and the need to share this passion with Northern California’s youth. They feel that giving back and supporting worthwhile causes is crucial to making the world a better place. Join them in helping to get Youth on Course.