Patriot Golf Day Benefits American Heroes

For the fourth consecutive year, thousands of golf facilities nationwide will participate in Patriot Golf Day®, over Labor Day Weekend (Sept. 3-6), collecting donations and raising awareness for Folds of Honor Foundation.

Patriot Golf Day, jointly supported by The PGA of America and the United States Golf Association, is the primary fundraiser for Folds of Honor which awards post-secondary educational scholarships for children and spouses of military servicemen and women killed or disabled while serving our great nation.


Through events across the country since 2007, PGA Professionals have helped raise more than $5.3 million, allowing Folds of Honor to award 1,163 post-secondary educational scholarships.

George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States of America, is the Honorary Chairman of this year’s Patriot Golf Day Weekend. President Bush joins PGA of America President Jim Remy, Patriot Golf Day founder and PGA Professional Major Dan Rooney, double amputee Staff Sgt. Heath Calhoun, and FOX & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade to “tee off” Patriot Golf Day Weekend, Friday (Sept. 3) in Waco, Texas. Calhoun’s three children - Mason, 7, Brystal, 5, and Bailee, 4, are Folds of Honor future-use scholarship recipients. Calhoun lost both of his legs above the knee from injuries sustained when his Humvee was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Mozul, Iraq, Nov. 7, 2003.

“Patriot Golf Day gives us a chance to recognize our American heroes, which is the least we can do as American citizens,” PGA of America President Jim Remy said. “It’s an honor to be able to kick off Patriot Golf Day weekend with a former President, as well as privilege to play with Major Dan Rooney and an American hero, Staff Sgt. Calhoun, who sacrificed so much so that we can have our freedom.”

During Labor Day weekend at participating public courses, golfers are asked to donate at least $1 for each round of golf. Participating private facilities will accept donations. Non-golfers can also participate by making a donation to the foundation at its website at FoldsofHonor.org.

As a proud supporter and Official Card of Patriot Golf Day, American Express will match donations made using an American Express® Card during Patriot Golf Day Weekend (Sept. 3-6) to support the Folds of Honor Foundation.

While registration is still in progress, there are currently more than 3,500 facilities registered to host Patriot Golf Day events nationwide. Seven PGA Sections have at least 50 percent of its facilities registered to host Patriot Golf Day events led by the Tennessee PGA Section with 100 percent (172 facilities). The Aloha PGA Section has 85.5 percent of its facilities registered, followed by Midwest (85.4 percent), Carolinas (68.4 percent), North Florida (57.4 percent), New Jersey (52.9 percent) and Nebraska (50 percent).

For the most updated list of registered facilities, visit PlayGolfAmerica.com or PatriotGolfDay.com.


More about Patriot Golf Day and the Folds of Honor

There are 172,000 dependents of fallen and wounded military service men and women from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts alone, and 85 percent of those dependents do not qualify for federal educational assistance. Patriot Golf Day allows the Folds of Honor to present an ongoing tribute to our brave service members by ensuring that the families of fallen and wounded warriors have hope for the right educational start to life and best future possible.

Major Dan Rooney, a PGA Professional, USGA member and F-16 military pilot with the Oklahoma Air National Guard, founded the Folds of Honor Foundation following his second of three tours of duty in Iraq. After witnessing the tragic homecoming of a fallen American solider, Rooney was inspired to start Folds of Honor to provide support to military families in the aftermath of their tragedies.

The inaugural Patriot Golf Day was held Sept. 1, 2007, and resulted in donations of more than $1 million!

The second annual event was held over Labor Day weekend (Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2008) and raised more than $2 million, while the 2009 event raised more than $2.3 million.

So, if you're planning on playing golf this weekend, make sure you give to the families of the heroes who admirably served this great country! G-d Bless the USA!

Posted via email from stacysolomon's posterous

Tiger Woods and Obama go on tour. Sony shaken after dumping Wie, the Gyroscope for muscle-building and Play Golf America!

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Soon after Tiger Woods sat in on a news conference to promote his third year as host of the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, he shuttled off to the White House to take a tour hosted by President Barack Obama.

Light witticisms were bandied about at Congressional with Tiger answering questions about his knowledge of the Swedish language which all boiled down to sayings every man should know like, "clean the house" and "wash dishes": every man that is, except for the billion-dollar variety like Woods!

But what could the President want to know from Tiger Woods? Aside from the obvious golf tips, we wonder what information could have been exchanged during their meeting in the Oval Office. Here are some of our thoughts.

1. Advice on the best golf simulator for the White House basement.

2. Perhaps they were negotiating deals for design and construction of new, upper eschelon golf communitites in Cuba, Venezuela and Iran as gifts to his new "well-wishers".

3. A new golf course in North Korea to Kim Jung-Il as a signing bonus if he stops playing with rockets.

4. Advice on how to turn the economy around since Tiger is obviously the head of his successful business concern.

5. Perhaps an open invitation to fill one of Obama's vacant top treasury positions (an huge cut in pay for Tiger).

Tiger looked as comfortable in the Oval Office as he does out on the golf course.

Golf for Beginners also wonders why Michelle Wie's contract with Sony was not renewed. Was it due to an obvious flagging performance or did it have something to do with the $97 million shelled out to cover a messy malpractice lawsuit over the "vibration feedback" technology in its Dual Shock controllers?

We also discuss ten ways to get the most out of free lesson month, courtesy of PGA of America and Play Golf America and challenge the TourGrip Gyro Trainer to improve our golf swing. If it helps to condition astronauts in space, it should fly with us!

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"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by OrlandoGolf.com, 866-443-8566.

Photo Credit: © The White House Blog: Meeting Tiger Woods

American Express/Play Golf America, Women's Golf Week, The Art of the Lay Up

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Whereas the internet may be all abuzz about Phil Mickelson's lucky break at the Colonial, this week's Golf for Beginners show focuses in on the amateur ladies of the sport.

Play Golf America, in conjunction with American Express, has had over 68,000 women attend its prior yearly outings, bringing together the art of the sport with all of the "extras" that may enhance the ladies experience. This June, participating golf facilities will try once again to peak interest in both golf and the encounters surrounding it.

My husband, Barry, believes that, aside from the golf instruction, men wouldn't be that interested in the many other activities planned for the month of June, such as the networking receptions, golf rules and etiquette seminars, club fitting and equipment demonstrations, golf apparel fashion shows and luncheons. (Okay, the fashion show might be a bit much for a guy to stomach!)

He believes that these additions lessen the competitive nature of the sport. Instead, teach them how to compete and then win! I think there's more to golf than that cut and dried notion. Allowing women to experience all the facets of golf may just increase the number of women who take up the sport and stick with it.

The faces behind this year's initiative are Nancy Lopez and Suzy Whaley. Lopez has among her accomplishments 48 LPGA wins (3 of them majors), Whaley was the first woman golfer in 58 years to qualify for a PGA Tour event (the 2003 Greater Hartford Open) paving the way for Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie's venture into men's professional events.

We also discuss the new American Express website dedicated to golf which offers a smattering of everything from video golf instruction to the ability to purchase tickets to 2009 events such as the U.S. Open at Bethpage.

Our golf tip focuses on the Art of the Layup and how placing your ego on hold is only the first step to accurately hitting greens in regulation.

Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed:http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes.

Subscribe to our newsletter!
Click Here to receive our archived podcasts and 100's of easy golf tips free!
Check us out on MySpace!

"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by MyrtleBeachGolf.com, 866-409-2177.