GOLF REPORT
Family is focus in July throughout the nation
| • | Memories of Manoa Cup still vivid for former champions |
Advertiser Staff
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Amy Grant, Vince Gill and their daughter, Corinna, are the spokesfamily for the third annual Family Golf Month, celebrated in July across the country. PGA pros will host "structured, yet casual" events made for families looking to golf together.
Facilities participating in the month-long promotion will offer family golf clinics and play days for a nominal fee, as well as programs such as Take Your Daughter to the Course Week (July 7 to 13) and Bring Your Kids to the Golf Range (throughout July).
"Golf is just a great way for families to spend unhurried time together," Grant said. "How many sporting events can a 50- or 60-year-old adult do with a 10-year old? Not many."
The following Hawai'i facilities are offering programs:
Updated lists of facilities participating in Family Golf Month, details on specific events and online registration is available at www.PlayGolfAmerica.com.
KIMS AMONG TOP SIX
Kimberly Kim and Kyung Kim, who both moved from Hawai'i to Arizona to pursue more golf opportunities, are among the top six in the 2008 U.S. Girls Junior Ryder Cup Team Standings.
Kimberly, originally from Hilo, leads the list with 1,210 points. Kyung, from Maui, is tied for sixth with 375 points.
The top six players qualify for Junior Ryder Cup, which will be played Sept. 15 and 16 at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Ky. The 37th Ryder Cup begins Sept. 18 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
CHARITY AIDS AFRICA
Betsy King, who won five times in Hawai'i during a 28-year Hall of Fame career, has found a new challenge in retirement.
King, working with Christian relief organization World Vision, created a Golf Fore Africa LPGA Member International Charity Initiative last year. Its initial aim was to help children in AIDS-ravaged Mudasomwa, a village in Rwanda, by providing clean water, agricultural support, education and basic health care. King announced a $250,000 donation to Mudasomwa at the McDonald's LPGA Championship.
King, and LPGA players Katherine Hull, Reilley Rankin and Juli Inkster, along with Inkster's children, visited the village in October, with LPGA teaching pros Renee Powell and Wendy Posillico. More than 60 LPGA players, including King's entire 2007 Solheim Cup team and Lorena Ochoa, the world's top-ranked female player, donated time and money.
Golf Fore Africa's two new projects require twice as much money. The goal is to build a medical clinic in Rwanda and partner with World Vision and Habitat for Humanity to build houses for orphaned children in Lesotho, a small country surrounded by South Africa.
This year's LPGA State Farm Classic will partner with Clothes Off Our Back Foundation to hold a celebrity online auction to help raise money for the Betsy King Golf Fore Africa Foundation. Michelle Wie, Natalie Gulbis and King are among the players who have signed and donated items of clothing that will be available for the public to bid. The auction begins July 14 and runs two weeks at www.clothesoffourback.org.
For more information on the initiative and nonprofit donations, go to www.golfforeafrica.org.
The LPGA will return to Hawai'i in October for the inaugural Kapalua LPGA Classic.
