Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation

The Hootie and the Blowfish Foundation was established in 2000 to create an endowment that benefits children of South Carolina through education and supports school music programs nationwide.

Darius Rucker, Jim “Soni” Sonefeld, Dean Felber and Mark Bryan have embraced their success and shared the benefits of their fortuitous career with the community that supports them. By establishing a foundation, Hootie and the Blowfish is creating an opportunity for grants to benefit the education of South Carolina’s children into the future.

It is the band’s desire to provide musical and educational opportunities to children who may not have a strong family or community advocates. Mark Bryan, guitarist for Hootie and the Blowfish says, “The Foundation enables us to be proactive for the charities we are passionate about. The foundation becomes a viable resource that enables us to help people at anytime.”

By establishing the Hootie and the Blowfish Foundation Fund, the members of the band are able to invest proceeds from their annual Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am golf tournament, as well as any other fund raisers in which they participate. When they are ready to give to causes such as the annual “VH-1’s Save the Music” or a local educational projects, like the Family Learning Center in Timmonsville, SC, they can direct the amount and the recipient of the donation. Along with the Governor’s office, the band will continue to research and fund programs and school districts in need.

The children in our state are our best resource and our most hopeful investment, and Hootie and the Blowfish know that by making effective grants they can motivate and assist kids to become great community contributors. With an economy as powerful as ours, and with the resources at our disposal, money should be the last thing that deprives a child of a quality education. With proper funding children can receive an education that prepares them for adulthood. In addition, children should have the exposure and benefit that music can bring to education - the enhancement of math skills, the mastery of an instrument, the appreciation of accomplishment, and the reward of hard work.


Junior Golf Land

Well the dream has finally become a reality. Through a lot of hard work and a bunch of creative minds, Junior Golf Land started programs for the youth of the area on June 20, 1997. The newly restructured facility, at RiverSide Golf Center in Columbia, includes a brand new practice tee and putting green that is used exclusively by participating juniors. The pre-existing par three course has been remodeled and reshaped to provide more of a golf course appeal for players. There is also a clubhouse, called the Hootie Hut, that is specifically used by and for juniors.

Thanks to previous Monday After The Masters Pro-Am and a grant from the USGA, Junior Golf Land at RiverSide is a place where large and small groups can be instructed about the fundamentals, history and integrity of golf. This year's tournament will be essential in the maintenance and continued progress of Junior Golf Land.

All of those who have participated in the past and who will participate this year have helped the SCJGA build and maintain our dream of Junior Golf Land. More importantly, everyone has helped needy and underprivileged kids learn to grip a golf club and get a better grip on life.

Groups and Outiongs
If your organization is interested in scheduling a visit to our facility, please contact our staff at (803) 732-9311. Applications can be obtained from the South Carolina Junior Golf Association. Golf Land is accessible seven days a week from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for sponsored groups.


The South Carolina Junior Golf Association

The South Carolina Junior Golf Association is pleased to announce Junior Golf Land in Columbia is expanding as we enter our 6th year of operations. The SCJGA’s Junior Golf Land programs, available at our initial facility, Riverside Golf Center, will also be in place through our newest partner, the City of Columbia’s First Tee Facility. Opened in the spring of 1996, the programs have had over 19,000 visits from the youth of South Carolina.

Thanks to a grant from the USGA and the Hootie and the Blowfish Monday after the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am, the courses are free of charge to kids from the age of 8-17. The band has remained a vital part of our program since it’s inception and we look forward to servicing the needs of thousands of more children through out the state.

The program is designed to expose the great game of golf to the minority and underprivileged youth of SC that might not otherwise have the opportunity to play. We are open seven days a week so that we may schedule groups at any time and work around any organization’s schedule.

Groups of up to 30 are taught etiquette, history, rules, and the basics of swinging the club. We hope that the life lessons taught through our programs will transfer back to the child’s everyday life. We are pleased to report that we had over 4,000 visits for the year 2001 alone!

Our Clubs for Kids program put properly fitted clubs into the hands of some 170 Columbia kids this past year. This aspect of the program will expand to 5 sites around the state.

A special day is set aside where kids can come out and receive instruction from area professionals and get to take home a three-club set so that they may continue to play. We will distribute approximately 2,000 donated clubs to other programs in the state, including schools, Boys and Girls clubs and various youth-related organizations.

Specialty groups, like Fairway Outreach, The Babcock Center, the Boys and Girls clubs and the YMCA use Junior Golf Land on a weekly basis for their sports programs. The SCJGA is also involved in a Pilot

Program with the Richland County Sheriffs Department. School resource officers will use the game of golf to teach the values of life to keep kids “on course” and away from trouble.

The SCJGA is also proud of our Little Legends program. The six-week series for 8-12 year olds is run three times a year - fall, spring and summer. Eight teams of 6 to 8 juniors play a Stableford format vying for a spot in the championship finals. The players get to keep up with all of their vital stats, as we put all the weekly results on our website. The players really enjoy this entry into competitive golf as team pride rises high.

Junior Golf Land also hosts the SC Special Olympics. The Riverside facility provides a training ground for athletes of all ages to experience this great game. Players train in five styles of competition to ready for the State Games. In conjunction with training the athletes, the SCJGA also conducts qualifiers for National Competition. One of our local heroes, Brad Raymond, finished third overall in the nine hole stroke play division of the 2001National Golf Tournament!

Junior Golf Lands spread to the upstate! In conjunction with The First Tee, the Monday After The Masters Celebity Pro-Am has a Junior Golf Land facility scheduled to open Spring 2001 in Spartanburg. The facility will include a nine-hole par 3 course, practice range, and the now famous Hootie Hut Clubhouse. A second facility is planned for the Greenville area. The Greenville Junior Golf Land is in development and is targeted to open in late 2002. Our goal is to have a Junior Golf Land within reach of all of South Carolina's juniors and we are well on our way!

The SCJGA is the sport head for golf in South Carolina and conducts their local and statewide amateur and professional tournaments as well as qualifying for national events. We have to thank our board members, our sponsors, the USGA, Hootie and the Blowfish and all the supporters of the Monday after the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am for our success.

For more information, please visit www.scjga.org


NMJGSA

The mission of the National Minority Golf Scholarship Association (NMJGSA) is to increase the participation of minority youngsters in the sport of golf and provide financial assistance in support of their efforts to experience the extraordinary advantages of education and opportunity.

NMJGSA encourages our student golfers to fully develop their golf potential and thus enhance their opportunity to participate in competitive golf as either amateurs or at the professional level. We will continue to lend financial assistance to Historical Black College golf programs. Through cooperative partnerships with businesses and the governing bodies of golf, we will expand our efforts to promote greater employment opportunities in all career fields of the golf industry.

NMJGSA's goals are focused in four principle areas:
Scholarships & Grants
Employment Opportunities
Junior Golf Program Development
Student Intern Programs

For more information regarding the NMJGSA contact Bill Dickey, President, at 602-258-7851.