First Annual NJGF Charity Hockey Game

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

President

Message

2

Holiday Party 3

PGA Junior

League

4-5

Professional

Spotlight

6

Save the Date 7

Just Rivals

Golf Classic

8-9

NJGF Quarterly D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

On October 24, over 200 friends, family and supporters gathered at Montclair State University’s Floyd Hall Arena

for the first Annual NJGF Charity Hockey Game. 24 PGA Professionals participated in the game, the blue team was

led by coach Mike Burke and the white team was led by coach Keith Stewart. A golf tournament was run in con-

junction with the Hockey Game at Montclair Golf Club. Through both the tournament and the game, over $7,500

was raised. Proceeds will go towards the NJGF Golf in Schools program in Paterson and the after school program

at Father English Community Center also in Paterson. We look forward to another successful game in 2015!

P A G E 2

Presidents Message Thank you to all our Foundation supporters for their efforts throughout the 2014 sea-

son! Some fundraising highlights from the past year include:

Over $210,000 raised at the 2014 NJGF Golf Classic held August 4 at Baltusrol

Golf Club

$40,000 raised by Upper Montclair Country Club with their 100 Hole Marathon

Ridgewood, Baltusrol, Cherry Valley, Hackensack, Metuchen, Peace Pipe & Eagle

Ridge all completed Marathons and together raised over $30,000

$11,000 raised by Glen Ridge Country Club through their season long Birdie Board

program

We would like to thank Norm Lewis & Wells Fargo, the Title Sponsor of the 2014

Golf Classic for their support this year. The 2015 Golf Classic will be held on Monday,

August 3 and we would like to congratulate the honoree for 2015, Mr. Andrew Vitale,

CPA and Managing Partner of WithumSmith+Brown’s Red Bank Office.

A special thank you goes to the man responsible for much of the programming in Pater-

son, the NJ Jackals Game Baseball game and the Charity Hockey Game, Mr. Greg Lock-

ard. Also, thanks to Parabolic Performance Rehab and Floyd Hall Enterprises for their

support during the Charity Hockey Game this October.

Christine’s Hope for Kids is a 501c3 that we are thankful to have teamed up with this

year. CHFK will be co-sponsoring events and programming where we will be giving area

youth golf supplies and equipment. The proceeds from Keith Stewart and Springdale’s

150 hole marathon have been split between CHFK and the NJGF.

A subject that has been given much attention from the Foundation in 2014 is our Home

Site project. Due to unforeseen rising costs, the NJGF Board of Trustees notified Plain-

field Country Club of its intention to pursue other more realistic possibilities. We have

begun conversations with Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club and are excited about the po-

tential. We greatly appreciate all those who have helped support our Home Site efforts

and those who continue to help the Foundation achieve its mission.

Some things we are looking forward to in 2015:

Just Rivals Golf Classic held at Galloway National and Programming with the New

Jersey National Guard (See Pages 8-9)

Our relationship with the MABGA - Middle Atlantic Blind Golf Association which

will include programming at St. Joseph’s School for the Blind in Jersey City.

Els for Autism selected us to run one of their 6 #GameON Clinic series across the

country. This is a 4 week program that will roll out this summer.

From all of us at the New Jersey Golf Foundation, I would like to wish you and your

family a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year.

Sincerely,

Gregg Angelillo

N J G F Q U A R T E R L Y

Officers Gregg Angelillo, President Neuberger Berman David Reasoner, PGA, Vice President Ridgewood Country Club Tom O’Rourke, Secretary Tiffany & Co Board of Trustees John Daly CIT Financial Alyson Johnson Wyndham Worldwide Bill Presutti Fidelity Investments Scott Kmiec PGA Reach Hugh Miller Hollyrock/Miller John Oliver, PGA Provident Bank Mike Attara, PGA Spirit of Golf Management Andy Brock, PGA Metuchen Golf & CC Brian Dobbie, PGA Montclair Golf Club Mickie Gallagher, PGA Trump National - Bedminster Dan Pasternak, PGA Black Oak Golf Club Ryan Fountaine, PGA Arcola Country Club Executive Director Chris Hunt

P A G E 3 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

On December 12, over 100 of the NJ Golf

Foundation’s supporters, friends and Board

Members joined at Spring Brook Country

Club for a night to celebrate the yearly suc-

cesses of the NJGF. Executive Director,

Chris Hunt, spoke about many important

events from the year, one being the Foun-

dation’s involvement in the 2014 Special

Olympics USA Games. New Jersey athletes,

Brad Hennefer and Christopher Harold

along with family members spoke about

their experiences and were presented with

an official flag from the USA Games (see

picture right). Christine’s Hope for Kids, an

organization that teamed up with the Foun-

dation this year, presented Executive Di-

rector, Chris Hunt with a $10,000 check to

support future youth golf programs (see

picture below). All guests

were asked to participate

in a toy drive for the

evening. Through the

drive, over 50 toys were

collected and donated to

Father English Community

Center in Paterson, New

Jersey.

Thanks to all who support

the efforts of the New

Jersey Golf Foundation!

NJGF Holiday Party

P A G E 4

The PGA Junior League

Team from Royce Brook

Golf Club representing

New Jersey at the 2014

PGA Jr. League Golf

National

Championships. Pictured

with Coaches Tony

Latham & Paul Kaster.

PGA Junior League PGA Junior League was started in 2011 by the PGA of America. It is designed as a way

to make the game of golf more social and fun for children ages 13 and under. The league

consists of team scramble competitions to provide a less stressful format than regular

stroke play. The program has skyrocketed in popularity since it began, growing from

nearly 9,000 participants representing 700 teams in 2013, to 18,000 participants and

1,500 teams in 2014. New Jersey has jumped on board in a huge way to create junior

league teams and get more young children involved in the game of golf. There are seven

leagues that fall within the New Jersey Section: Southern NJ League, Central NJ League,

Mountain NJ League, Shore NJ League, Northern NJ League, Metro NJ League & Capital

NJ League. These leagues play matches against each other throughout the season until a

“Final Four” compete for one spot in the National Championship. In the 2014 season,

the Capital League team from Royce Brook, led by coaches Anthony Latham and Paul

Kaster, was lucky enough to earn a spot at the National Championships. Held October

24-26 at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia, the PGA Junior League National Champion-

ships featured teams from Georgia, Connecticut, Tennessee, California, Indiana, Iowa,

Texas and New Jersey. Team New Jersey (pictured below) came in a tie for 7th place.

The New Jersey Golf Foundation was proud to support the New Jersey team in their

trip to Georgia. For more information about PGA Junior League golf in New Jersey,

please visit www.njgolffoundation.org!

N J G F Q U A R T E R L Y

Q&A with PGA JLG Coach: Tony Latham

Click here to

watch a video

chronicling Team

New Jersey’s

experience at the

National

Championship!

P A G E 5

How did you get involved with PGA Junior League:?

Back in 2012, I was contacted by Chris Hunt about a pilot program that the NJPGA was going to take part in under a national Growth of the Game initiative: PGA-JLG. Since my Junior Program here at Royce Brook was already established as one of the biggest and most com-petitive, it seemed like a logical place to start. I offered this “new” team concept to my junior players and, as they say, the rest is history. My kids loved it! Every-thing about it from the format to the team jer-seys. They enjoyed the competition, the travel to other clubs and mostly being part of a team. Things just keep getting better as kids from my club, Cherry Valley and Trump National formed an All-Star team and won the Eastern Regionals and went to the first ever National Championship in 2012 at Medinah CC in Chicago, the year of the Ryder Cup.

Why should more people get involved in PGA Junior League?

Two main reasons, first it is by far the best way to introduce junior players to the competitive side of golf in a less stressful envi-ronment. The format leads itself to players learning the rules, course management and teamwork without the pressure of hitting bad shots or making bad decisions that lead to high scores and failure. It is a great stepping stone to individual improvement on US Kids Tours and is a great way to have fun with your friends! Second, quite simply it grows the game and revenue. The tre-mendous expansion from 100 teams to 1400 teams and national exposure has created such “buzz” that everyone wants to be on a team. This leads to more kids which leads to more money. My program has doubled in participation and dollars every year since I’ve been fielding a team. This also helps with residual revenue increase, as these programs participants need to practice, eat, have snacks etc. Win- Win- Win in my opinion.

What is the National Championship experience like?

Since I’ve been fortunate to have coached teams that have made it to the Nationals twice, I would have to say that I have had two wonderful priceless experiences but very different. Both entailed organizing 10 kids, their parents with a travel nightmare, practice rounds, daily activities, etc. Between the paperwork to storing the teams clubs, it was a lot of work. The main difference between the two was in 2012 at Medinah, we were young, very small and inexperienced. Most of the team had never played in a tournament, let alone a National Championship. To top it off, it was the year of the Ryder Cup and we were at the site! Grand-stands, TV cameras and all the preparation for the Cup was in place and our kids where there! It was surreal. We were by far the smallest team BUT, what made the trip was everyone was rooting for the “Little Kids from Joisey”. We certainly were not com-petitive on the course (not winning a single match) but no team had more fun or enjoyed themselves more than us. This year, 2014 at Sugarloaf we still were the smallest kids with the biggest coach but we had some older players & the experienced we lacked in 2012 as three of the same kids were on the team. This was a team of seasoned players who have had personal success-es on various junior tours. The venue was much different and had a different vibe. It was set-up like a PGA –Tour Event for the kids. Gallery ropes, Jumbo Trons, Press Tents. They even each got their own locker with their names on it loaded with sponsor swag! Unlike Medinah, this was all for the kids. It was truly a once in a life time experience. A true National Championship setting where the kids were the main attraction. Our team was interviewed and live on “Magginess on Tap” radio show, had highlights on The Golf Channel and I was “miked-up” for most of the event. Incredible week in Atlanta!

What advice you would give to someone who wanted to start a team?

Just do it. It will be the best decision you will make for your club’s junior program and the game of golf itself. It will be the most fun and reward-ing experience you will have teaching the game to kids. Every moment is a teaching moment, every moment a priceless snap-shot, every mo-ment special. The PGA-JLG has worked hard to streamline the process of forming a team. They have gone through some growing pains, as did most of us when we started, but they got it right and continue to im-prove on it every year. I would also offer my services to any coach or captain that needed some guidance or had questions about anything

involving PGA- Junior League Golf.

Q&A with PGA JLG Coach: Tony Latham

P A G E 6

Spotlight: Kevin Maciorowski Westlake Golf & Country Club Head Professional, Kevin Maciorowski has

played in the MGP Cup at Pine Barrens every year. He has looked forward to it,

enjoyed it, but never won it, until now. Maciorowski, (or KMac for short), is in his

tenth year as the Head Professional at Westlake Golf & Country Club in Jackson,

NJ. He began playing golf in high school, had his first job in golf working at the In-

man Driving Range, and in 2005 took the Head Professional job at Westlake. An

active member of the New Jersey PGA, KMac has served as a board member on

multiple committees and has dedicated his time to a number of Golf in Schools

events over the years.

On October 10th, KMac teed it up in the 4th Annual MGP Cup at Pine Bar-

rens Golf Club and was pleased to begin the day with two straight birdies. Coming

down the stretch, he knew that staying even par could put him in good position for

the tournament. After holing a 30 foot putt for birdie on his last hole, #10, with his

mentor, Bill King watching from the 18th tee, KMac won the MGP Cup for the first

time.

While some Professionals might take the prize money and run, KMac decid-

ed to donate $500 of his winnings back to the New Jersey Golf Foundation. This,

added to the $5,000 raised from the event, made a great contribution to the Foun-

dation. Thanks to Professionals like KMac, the NJGF continues to be successful in

it’s mission of improving lives and communities through the game of golf. The NJGF

appreciates the generosity of Professionals like KMac who are always thinking be-

yond themselves and towards the greater good of golf in New Jersey.

N J G F Q U A R T E R L Y

P A G E 7

Save the Date!

2015 Peter A. Famiano Memorial Pro-Am

Thursday July 2, 2015 - Crestmont Country Club

9th Annual NJ Golf Foundation Golf Classic

Monday August 3, 2015 - Baltusrol Golf Club