On Wednesday, October 13th, 35 PGA HOPE Veterans came out to Whitmoor Country Club in Weldon Springs, Missouri to participate in the 3rd Annual PGA HOPE Cup. The HOPE Cup is a 9 hole, four-person scramble tournament for local HOPE Graduates from the Gateway Section. The PGA HOPE Cup is a celebration and day of camaraderie for our local HOPE veterans who have graduated in their respective programs. We would like to extend a big thank you to Brian Maine, and Whitmoor Country Club staff for hosting another PGA HOPE Cup. We would also like to thank all of the PGA Professionals who have led HOPE Programs throughout the Gateway Section and not only improved the veterans’ golf game but have impacted their lives.
“The HOPE Cup is a special day for everyone. It is rewarding to see so many people come together to celebrate our veterans. The smiles and excitement that it brings the veterans is just priceless to see,” Mackenzie Myers, Gateway PGA WORKS Fellow said.”I could tell how much it meant to our veterans and I was honored to be a part of that.”
The annual HOPE Cup is a four-person scramble-style tournament with a field made of veterans from all 4 PGA HOPE Programs (St. Louis, Mid-Missouri, Forces on the Fairway, and Springfield, IL). Each veteran that participates in the HOPE Cup is a graduate of their program meaning they attended and completed a majority of the clinics held (typically 6). Each clinic takes place at local courses across the Gateway section and are taught by the sections PGA Professionals, who have been certified in adaptive golf training.
Gateway PGA HOPE awarded three veterans from the St. Louis Metro program (Joseph Kubasta, Clinton Meritte, and Larry Collinsworth) with HOPE logoed golf balls and HOPE driver headcovers that were graciously donated by Jon DePriest, PGA of Sunset Hills Country Club. The day concluded with a buffet-style lunch served in the Whitmoor room where the veterans enjoyed their meal and chatted with one another.