Veterans From Three Local PGA HOPE Programs Will Play In Inaugural PGA HOPE Cup

40 PGA HOPE Veterans will compete on October 23rd at
Whitmoor Country Club, the site of the 2018 Secretary’s Cup 

CHESTERFIELD, Mo. (October 22, 2019) – The Gateway PGA REACH Foundation and the Gateway PGA will be hosting the Inaugural PGA HOPE Cup, on Wednesday, October 23rd at Whitmoor Country Club. The HOPE Cup is a scramble-style tournament that includes veterans from all three Gateway PGA HOPE programs (St. Louis, Mid-Missouri, & Springfield, Missouri). Veterans from all three HOPE programs are graduates from golf clinics that have been administered by PGA Professionals at courses within the Gateway PGA Section or the VA Hospital.

These programs will be brought together for a day of golf comradery and celebration of our country’s veterans. The golf portion will be a 9-hole 4-man scramble with four HOPE veterans on each team paired with one PGA Professional. PGA HOPE Professionals will hit “pro-shots” for each team on specific holes throughout the golf course.

HOPE Cup Schedule of Events:

  • 8:15 – 9:00 a.m.: Veterans Arrive, Check-in & Warm up
  • 9:05 a.m.: Welcome Announcements
  • 9:30 a.m.: Shotgun Start  (Whitmoor North Course, front 9)
  • Approx. 12:00-1:00 p.m.: Lunch & Brief Awards Following Golf

Gateway PGA HOPE Programs are 6-8 week golf development programs taught by local PGA Professionals trained in adaptive golf technqiues for working with veterans with disabilities. The programs are free to all active duty military and military veterans. Gateway PGA Professionals, since 2013, have committed to furthering PGA HOPE programs throughout the region. Delivered in a year-around initiative including instruction, on course play and tournament play PGA HOPE has served over 200 veterans to date.

PGA HOPE is the flagship military program of PGA REACH, the charitable foundation of the PGA of America. PGA HOPE introduces golf to Veterans with disabilities to enhance their physical, mental, social and emotional well-being.

The program introduces the game of golf through a developmental 6-8 week curriculum, taught by PGA Professionals trained in adaptive golf and military cultural competency. All programs are funded by PGA REACH and supplemented by PGA Section Foundations, so the cost of programming is free to all Veterans.

PGA HOPE has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which enables Recreational Therapists to refer Veterans to the PGA HOPE program as a form of therapy. Through a robust program strategy, PGA HOPE aspires to create a physically and emotionally healthier Veteran community by shaping lives, changing lives, and possibly saving lives through the game of golf.