Former President George Bush has agreed to serve as the
Honorary Chair of "The First Tee," a program unveiled
yesterday in New York that plans to create hundreds of new
golf facilities throughout the U.S. over the next 10 years.
"The First Tee," an initiative of the World Golf Foundation,
will provide golf management expertise, consulting services
and land planning to communities and organizations
interested in supporting the program in their areas.
Public-private partnerships in each community will be the
primary funding source for each facility, as will proceeds
from the new World Golf Hall of Fame. The program will have
its own Board of Directors, which will oversee fundraising,
budget, consulting, construction, environmental and program
functions of "The First Tee" ("The First Tee").
FUNDING: In N.Y., Clifton Brown reports that PGA Tour
Commissioner Tim Finchem said the PGA Tour, Augusta National
Golf Club, the USGA, the PGA of America and the LPGA had
committed a combined $5-6M per year toward staffing "The
First Tee" initiative. USGA President Judy Bell said that
organization would make a $1M annual grant over the next
three years, while Augusta National Golf Club Chair Jack
Stephens "made a personal donation" of $5M toward "The First
Tee" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/14). In Detroit, Vartan Kupelian
reports that restoration and renovations to Belle Isle Golf
Course, funded by Ford Motor Co., "will begin immediately
and be ready, at least in part, next spring." Kupelian adds
that the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
and the National Minority Golf Association "are among the
national organizations" who have also pledged their support
to the program (DETROIT NEWS, 11/14). Several U.S.
government agencies have also pledged support, including the
Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, according to the
WALL STREET JOURNAL. A PGA Tour official said that "about"
$30M has been pledged. Money from Amoco Corp. "will be used
to fund a facility" in Hammond, IN, while a donation from
Royal Dutch/Shell Group's Shell Oil Co. unit will be used
for a facility in Houston, TX (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/14).
