GOLFER
PROFILE
Glenn Pratt
Minority Professional Golf Development Association
"African Americans watch white golfers play on TV, but they
don't compete
against them." This is what Glenn Pratt was told by his family
and community when
he was growing up in Nassau, Bahamas.
By age 20, he was Bahamas Nation Golf Champion and left to go to
the US to compete in professional golf. So, he grabbed his favorite
golf gear, stuffed $400 into his pocket and left home to play the
mini-tour circuit in the United States. Today, the 41-year-old
golfer is Founder and President of the Minority Professional Golf
Development Association (MPGDA) and he is on a mission to help
others compete at the professional level (...read more in the
January 2004 issue).
Steve Hogan
Miller Park Golf Course - Omaha,Neb.
Steve Hogan, a PGA member since 1997, is head professional at Miller
Park Golf Course in Omaha, Neb., home of "Hogan's Junior Golf
Heroes," one of the country's most remarkable inner-city golf
success stories. Hogan, 40, is the first Nebraska PGA Section member
to win the PGA Junior Golf Leader Award, which is presented to a PGA
Professional who demonstrates leadership in junior golf and reflects
the ideals of those who work with youth.
Hogan, who attended Bellevue (Neb.) College for two years before turning
professional in 1989, is a two-time (1999, 2002) Section PGA Junior
Golf Leader Award winner. Among the many community service awards
he has received are the 2001 Dr. Martin Luther King Living the Dream
Award and the 1997 American Institute for Public Service Jefferson
Award. He also received the 2003 Nebraska Hall of Fame's Dr. Herbert
H. Davis Memorial Award.
"When someone asks me where
I went to college, I say The PGA of America,"
said Hogan. "The PGA is my college. Being a golf professional
is an ongoing education. For me to pass through Business School II
was very hard. Thanks to my wife and kids, who quizzed me as I was
studying, I made it. I have tried to instill in kids I meet that it
is never too late to reach your dreams. I came off a tractor and I
had dreams. You have to never give up on yourself and never quit working."
Hogan and his wife, Denett, are the parents of two children: Steve
Jr., 17, and Sierra, 11.
Get to know Buddy Cooper who has 15 years of teaching golf under his belt. Cooper started out in Philadelphia, PA at Cobb's Creek Golf Club, a public 36 hole venue designed as the "little sister" layout of the world famous Merion Golf Club in nearby Ardmore, PA.
Cooper is in the midst of completing the requirements for the PGA of America's Class "A" designation and currently serves as Lead Instructor at the Bronx Golf Center in New York City. He's also taught at the prestigious Jim McLean Golf Academy at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. While there he worked with all levels of golfers, including local pros and he ran the Junior Golf Academy for two years.
Prior to moving to New York Cooper was the General Manager and Head Professional of Freeway Golf Course in Sicklerville, N.J.-the first 18-hole venue owned and operated by African-Americans in the U.S. At Freeway Cooper sharpened his tournament playing skills under the tutelage of PGA life member, Bill Bishop-winner of over 70 professional tournaments.
Buddy's teaching philosophy is to customize an instruction program based on each student's athletic background. To contact Cooper call Bronx Golf Center at (718) 379-6666 or email: BuddyCooperGolf@aol.com.
You'll have a lot of fun checking out this fellow golfer. And surprising, he's a cousin of Today show weatherman, Al Roker.
Renny is on a mission to provide top quality lessons and playing time for kids, ages 10-17, at upscale resorts and golf courses. His Miramar, Florida-based organization has teams in over 30 cities. Discover how his program helps kids with their studies and fosters a professional attitude while they learn the rules and business of golf.
More importantly, Teens on the Green works to insure that all members earn a scholarship to the college of their choice stemming from their commitment to the education and experience they received while participating in the program on and off the course. For more information read the complete article in the Summer 2003 issue of the African American Golfer's Digest or contact: rroker@TeensOnTheGreens.com or visit www.TeensOnTheGreen.com or call (954)499-9022.
Understand why "It's never too late," according to Dr. George Thomas, president of the Learning Academy which carries his name. Though his job was too consuming for him to
take up golf, immediately upon his retirement from the Federal Aviation
Administration in 1994, Thomas, now 74, started taking lessons.
He's cut his handicap down to an amazing 12. Thomas' academy just hosted its 9th annual golf tournament in Silver Spring, MD, that benefits its tutoring and mentoring
program for students of Montgomery County, the George B. Thomas, Sr. Learning Academy.
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