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Out of the Bag

The Veteran Golfers Association (VGA),
a national non-profit organization, offers
U.S military veterans the chance to enjoy
competitive golf. Fourteen events for
2016 are slated for our region, with 100
scheduled nationwide at military, public,
and private courses. One tournament
will be played in Maryland while five are
coming to Virginia including Augustine
Golf Club on July 14th. Each two-day, 36-
hole stroke play tournament will host three
divisions of competition: Veteran, Combat Wounded, and Family, and include many Purple
Heart recipients. Last year, the newly launched VGA Tour captivated attention and stirred
hearts throughout the golf world and beyond putting the service, sacrifice, and patriotism
of its participants in the national spotlight. The VGA Championship will be held Veteran’s
Day week in November at historic Pinehurst No. 2. Veterans interested in joining the VGA
and golf professionals interested in adding their golf course to the VGA Tour can visit
vgagolf.org to sign up.
White Rock, Inc., the developer of the Penn National Golf Course Community is planning
to build a $1.1 million town center just north of the Borough of Mont Alto. The full
project, however, would not be feasible without money from a Pennsylvania transportation
grant program. The Multimodal Transportation Fund was created two years ago by
increasing the state fuel tax. The White Rock plan calls for 100,000 square feet of
commercial space including a grocery store, pharmacy, and urgent care building. When
completed, the center will employ about 170 people. The more than 1,100 families
that call Penn National home will have to wait to see if all of these improvements will
materialize since they depend upon the grant application approval. So stay tuned.
We Are Golf, a coalition of the game’s leading associations
and industry partners, has announced that Ryder Cup Captain
Davis Love III and Vice Captain Steve Stricker will attend
National Golf Day on Capitol Hill on May 18th. The day
celebrates the game’s economic and charitable impacts as
well as environmental and fitness benefits. Industry leaders
will meet with members of Congress and federal agencies to discuss golf’s 15,000 plus
diverse businesses, its two million employees, tax revenue creation, and tourism value. The
numbers, $70 billion in business and $4 billion in charity, are nothing to sneeze at. “With
2016 being an election year, it’s even more important for political leaders to understand
the impact our industry has on local communities and millions of Americans,” said Steve
Mona, CEO of World Golf Foundation and administrator of We Are Golf (wearegolf.org).
PGA TOUR Champions has announced that they are looking for volunteers for the
Dominion Charity Classic to be held November 1-6 on the James River Course at the
Country Club of Virginia. This chance will get you behind-the-scenes experience at a
professional golf event. The event, which is new this year, will be the final playoff event
before the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Unlike other professional
sports, each year the PGA TOUR relies on more than 100,000 volunteers to run its events
and they are an integral piece of each event’s success. Volunteers are asked to purchase
a package that includes admission plus four additional day tickets to the tournament
and lots of swag. Proceeds from the Dominion Charity Classic will be distributed to
the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) program which helps employers design practices for
recruiting, hiring, and retaining veterans leaving military service. For those interested in
volunteering, please visit volunteers.dominioncharityclassic.com.

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