Nobody needs a birdie’s eye view to notice the resurgence.
It doesn’t take a golfer to realize the sport is writing quite the comeback story.
“You drive down the street and pass a golf course, and we’ve got golf carts going forwards, backwards and any other direction they can fit,” said LuAnne Kelsey, admittedly just a spectator. “People are excited for the chance to get out and live their lives again, and any way they can do it is good for them.”
Kelsey can attest, good for others.
As chairman of the Fox Valley Park Foundation’s Board of Directors, Kelsey oversees the annual Golf For Kids event, the Foundation’s biggest fundraiser, which provides funding through grants and scholarships to support underserved children..
This year’s 26th edition of Golf For Kids will tee off Monday, June 28 at Orchard Valley Golf Course, 2411 W. Illinois Avenue. The event, which raises approximately $50,000 annually to provide camps, swim lessons, and after-school programs, to name a few, has foursomes and individual openings remaining, especially during the morning round.
Shotgun will start and send morning and afternoon groups off the tees at 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. On-course contests, raffles, boxed lunches, and a post-round dinner and awards presentation are options for players, as well.
Prior to being sidelined last Summer by the pandemic, Golf For Kids in 2018 and 2019 allowed the Foundation to award $100,000 in grants toward a variety of critical community needs:
• Learn to Swim program, teaching second graders the life-saving skill of swimming;
• Free Summer camp experiences for children of victims of domestic abuse and homelessness;
• Free nature club participation for underserved children;
• Free Sports Saturdays program, promoting active and healthy lifestyles to combat childhood obesity;
• Performing arts grant to make stage dreams a possibility for all children;
• Free Veterans wellness programs;
• Transitional work program for adults with disabilities.
“Golf is the venue to celebrate our kids, to not only share some friendship, but also to raise some funding for kids and other community-membered programs that otherwise may not be available for families,” Kelsey said. “It’s a pathway to raising money for children in a fun way that a large pool of people enjoy.”
New this year is the all-in Players Package, in which participants pay $400. per foursome, $100 for individual players, and receive automatic entry into hole-in-one, closest-to-the-pin and longest-drive contests, six raffle tickets, two mulligans and a 20% discount at the Orchard Valley Pro Shop. hole-in-one prizes include $10,000 or a two-night stay and round of golf at Pebble Beach; closest-to-the-pin (four guaranteed winners) receive a seven-night resort vacation; and longest drives (four guaranteed winners) can be redeemed for a golf/spa day.
For more information about Golf For Kids or to reserve your spot, visit fox-valley-park-district-golf-for-kids-2021.perfectgolfevent.com or call Rachel Ossyra at 630-966-4529.
—Fox Valley Park District