Stafford, Va. – This Labor Day weekend (Aug. 31 – Sept. 3), nearly 200 golf facilities in the Mid-Atlantic Region will host Patriot Golf Day® activities and will collect donations for the Folds of Honor Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides educational scholarships to the families of service men and women who have been disabled or killed in service to their country.
Supported by both the PGA of America and the U.S. Golf Association, Patriot Golf Day offers a variety of activities that may include a golf scramble event, a visit from local veterans and their families or even a complimentary golf clinic by the facility’s PGA Professional. Golfers at participating facilities are encouraged to donate the minimum of $1 on Patriot Golf Day to benefit the Folds of Honor Foundation. To locate a participating facility, people are encouraged to visit www.PatriotGolfDay.com/register.
“Our MAPGA Professionals and their members and patrons have really responded to this great program,” states Jon Guhl, Executive Director of the Middle Atlantic PGA Section. “With such a high military presence in this area, golf has found a way to honor our true heroes and we hope this year builds on the success that has been achieved so far, with almost $13 million raised in the last 5 years through PGA-staffed facilities.”
There are more than one million dependents of fallen and wounded military service men and women from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts alone and 87 percent do not qualify for federal education assistance (as of Jan. 1, 2012). Patriot Golf Day allows the Folds of Honor Foundation 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 former F-16 fighter pilot, PGA Professional and USGA member, came up with the concept of Patriot Golf Day and founded the Folds of Honor Foundation in 2007, following his second of three tours of duty in Iraq. Click here to hear Major Rooney’s Mission. With the tremendous help of PGA Professionals across the country, Folds of Honor has been able to award more than 3,500 educational scholarships in the last five years.
Patriot Golf Day website – www.patriotgolfday.com
Folds of Honor Foundation website – www.foldsofhonor.org
Make a Donation link – www.patriotgolfday.com/donate
About the Middle Atlantic Section of the PGA of America
The Middle Atlantic Section of the PGA (MAPGA), located in Stafford, Virginia, is one of 41 Sections of The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA), headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. As a part of The PGA since 1925, the MAPGA consists of over 1,100 members and apprentices in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and small portions of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Together, the MAPGA golf professionals, volunteers and staff support the mission of The PGA to promote enjoyment and involvement in the game of golf and to contribute to the game’s growth by providing services to PGA Professionals and the golf industry.
Contact:
Stephanie Jennings, PGA
sjennings@pgahq.com
(540) 720-7420 ext. 116
