APRIL 27, 2022, St Andrews, Scotland: Golfers pursuing a place in the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield can now submit entries for Pre-Qualifying and Final Qualifying events taking place in July and August this year.  

Players who already have an exemption into the AIG Women’s Open can submit an entry form via www.aigwomensopen.com.

Pre-Qualifying will take place on Monday, July 11 at The Buckinghamshire with Final Qualifying being played at North Berwick on Monday August 1. 

A minimum of three golfers will earn their place in the AIG Women’s Open to be played at Muirfield from 4-7 August.

Those golfers wanting to play in Pre-Qualifying and Final Qualifying can view the entry criteria and submit an entry form via www.aigwomensopen.com.

Zoe Ridgway, Tournament Director – AIG Women’s Open at The R&A, said, “Qualifying events are an important pathway into the AIG Women’s Open for golfers who dream of competing in a major championship. We would like to thank The Buckinghamshire and North Berwick for hosting Pre-Qualifying and Final Qualifying. We very much look forward to seeing which golfers secure the opportunity to play in the AIG Women’s Open when it is hosted at Muirfield for the first time.” 

The AIG Women’s Open will take place from August 4-7, 2022 at Muirfield, with tickets now on sale via www.aigwomensopen.com. The Championship will follow government guidance in relation to spectator attendance. 

Adult tickets will start from appproximately $37 with children aged under 16 years old admitted free of charge. Spectators aged 16-24 years old will be entitled to purchase youth tickets starting from about $19. An estimate $6 Mastercard discount is available once per person. 

Hospitality options are now on sale with further information available at www.aigwomensopen.com/championsclub.

The AIG Women’s Open is proudly supported by VisitScotland. 

For further information on the AIG Women’s Open or to purchase tickets, please visit www.aigwomensopen.com. 

Tee Up Diversity will celebrate the historical achievements of minorities in golf, raise money for programs for underserved communities to diversify the game of golf

BOSTON – April 27, 2022 –The Reaching Back Foundation today announced its plans for an inaugural event during the week of the 122nd U. S. Open Championship that will celebrate the significant, historical achievements of minorities in the game of golf, while raising funds for programs that work to diversify the business and game of golf. Tee Up Diversity will be held on Thursday, June 16 at The Newbury Boston and will end with an after-party at Contessa. Seven-time NAACP Image Awards Winner, Anthony Anderson, and award-winning producer, Chris Spencer serves as host. Damon Hack from NBC Sports will provide commentary and interview special guests from the sports desk during the event.

Club and the USGA. The event is raising funds to help organizations dedicated to addressing educational and professional development inequities still evident today with an emphasis on programs relating to the business and game of golf.

There are more than 2 million jobs across the $84 billion golf industry, yet only a small fraction of these jobs are held by those among underrepresented communities.

“The game of golf has a chance to be better, by identifying and embracing more people with different perspectives and different experiences, and exposure is a critical part of the solution,” said E. Macey Russell, The Country Club’s U.S. Open DEI Committee Chair. “Tee Up Diversity was created with Lee Elders’ vision of exposing the game to those who would be without it, who would never be aware of the opportunities and possibilities the game can provide.”

Proceeds from the event will:

• Establish and endow the Lee Elder Scholarship Fund, which will be administered through the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund. The Scholarship will benefit minority college students from Massachusetts who work in the game of golf.
• Provide scholarship aid to young people of color who play golf at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and those who are interested in pursuing careers in the business of golf. These dedicated funds will be administered by the United Negro College Fund.
• Support local programs that are expanding access to the game for inner-city youth.

The event will feature a historic-filled program highlighting African Americans’ role in the game of golf and honor golf African American UGA legend, Renee Powell, and golf trailblazers Jim Dent and Jim Thorpe, and golf course management trailblazer, Edwin Lamour for their achievements in the business and game of golf.

This special event will recognize:

• The history of the United Golfers Association (UGA, also known as the Chitlin’ Circuit and the Negro Golf Tour) and the champions who played on this tour, including Lee Elder, Bill Spiller, Ted Rhodes, Howard Wheeler, Ann Gregory, Charlie Sifford, Pete Brown, and Thelma Cowans, while also recognizing their important contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.
  
• The Lee Elder Internship, which will take place during U.S. Open Championship week, was established by The Country Club with support from the USGA and has a mission of introducing golf”s career opportunities to underrepresented student interns from around the world.

“Diversity remains one of the major opportunities for the golf industry, one that can only be addressed with continued initiatives to broaden the audience, reach underrepresented individuals, and support their engagement with the sport,” said Will Fulton, General Chair for the 2022 U.S. Open. “Tee Up Diversity will be a fun and important way to celebrate both what has been achieved, and all that can be done in the future.”

Tickets start at $5000 with an opportunity to access 5-day passes to the U.S. Open Championship at higher levels. Visit www.TeeUpDiversity.org for details. For more information about the event, contact the Event Producer AJ Williams at AJ Events (617) 510-8004 / [email protected].

About The Reaching Back Foundation
The Reaching Back Foundation, Inc. (TRBF), founded by a group of minority professionals in 1997, is a Massachusetts Non-Profit 501(c)(3) that raises funds to provide grants to organizations promoting the educational and professional development of minority students and youth in urban neighborhoods. The mission of TRBF is to promote diversity in golf by exposing disadvantaged students to the game and to the idea of pursuing their college education as student athletes and future business leaders. TRBF also aims to “plug the pipeline” of talented students who are forced to drop out of college because of financial hardship by providing funds that reduce their dependence on loans to remain in school.

A Will County grand jury indicted University Park Golf Club manager Sonia Coffee for felony assault of a police officer in connection with an alleged Dec. 16 attack on police Chief Deborah Wilson, according to an April 3, 2022 article by the Chicago Tribune.

The revelation raises fresh questions about Mayor Joseph Roudez and his administration and why the highly regarded police chief has been on administrative leave since the incident.

“Something is very wrong,” said Theo Brooks, a University Park trustee and former police officer.

Brooks has supported citizen efforts to pursue accountability regarding the police chief’s suspension and $800,000 in public funds allegedly paid to Coffee’s company, CHW Management Group, AAGD has learned.

The Daily Southtown reported that Roudez has refused comment on the chief’s suspension and incidents at the golf club, citing confidentiality over a personnel matter. But public documents offer insight and seem to support residents’ concerns about why Roudez’s administration sidelined a popular police chief immediately after she became a victim of an alleged felony assault.

The grand jury returned its two-count indictment against Coffee Jan. 6, according to a copy of a complaint obtained from the Will County state’s attorney’s office. University Park police rejected a request through the Freedom of Information Act for copies of reports, citing confidentiality.

In addition to the felony charge of aggravated battery to a police officer, Coffee faces a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.

“(Coffee) made physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with Debbie Wilson, knowing Debbie Wilson to be a peace officer performing her official duties, in that said defendant pushed Debbie Wilson about her body,” according to the complaint.

Coffee said her attorney advised her to not comment on the incident.

The grand jury also indicted DeVaughn J. Mathus on identical charges of felony aggravated battery to a police officer and misdemeanor resisting arrest for allegedly shoving Wilson.

According to reports, Brooks said he believes the village should publicly release a video recording that shows the Dec. 16 altercation that led in the felony charge against Coffee.

“Our police chief went up there for an investigation that escalated,” Brooks said. “The board has seen the videotape. It’s very horrific. Chief Wilson was indeed battered. Actually I’m just embarrassed by the way everything is unfolding.”

Coffee wrote in a written report provided to the University Park Village Board, that an “unfortunate incident” occurred while the chief was at the club. Wilson was investigating the whereabouts of maintenance equipment purportedly purchased with taxpayer funds for the publicly owned golf course, Brooks said.

Coffee has been asked by Brooks and citizens to provide receipts and to account for money purportedly spent on euipment such as lawn mowers and other items. Brooks’ motion to withhold more than $50,000 in payments owed to Coffee’s management company until she reports to the board was recently supported by a majority of the Board.

Questions have arisen as to by Brooks and residents as to why Village Manager Ernestine Beck-Fulgham placed Wilson on paid administrative leave Dec. 16, the day of the incident at the golf club.

A week later, during a Dec. 23 special meeting, a board majority rejected Roudez’s attempt to appoint Ed Bradley, a former police chief of University Park, to an interim role as acting police chief while Wilson was on leave.

Six days later, on Dec. 29, Wilson filed a discrimination complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. Wilson is University Park’s first female police chief and the first Black female police chief of any community in Will County.

The Daily Southtown obtained a copy of the complaint, in which Wilson alleged she was being retaliated against because she was an eyewitness to another village employee’s sexual harassment complaint against Beck-Fulgham.

“I believe that my employer is retaliating against me because I reported these illegal activities or agreed to be a witness in another employee’s sexual harassment claim against the manager,” Wilson wrote.

In February, Brooks and Trustee Sonia Jenkins-Bell publicly released a letter in which they called for Beck-Fulgham to resign for awarding more than $54,000 in cash bonuses to 61 employees, including $3,500 for herself, without Village Board knowledge or approval.

“What infuriates me even more is that Ernestine still has not been handled by the board for the money she took,” Brooks said Friday. “It’s unheard of. The board should be more upset about Ernestine taking the money.”

Roudez recently told me the money Beck-Fulgham awarded to employees as cash bonuses was revenue from permit fees.

“There was nothing stolen,” Roudez said. “It’s a policy violation, nothing criminal. When people commit criminal acts they do not go to the bank and get cashier’s checks.”

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates,

In his 46-years of life on this planet, five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods has realized his vision to become a Putting Course Designer. The epic accomplishment was concluded through a partnership with an entertainment center in Sarasota, Floria.

Woods has designed two 18-hold putting courses that are set to open next Thursday at PopStroke located in Sarasota, Florida.

“I’m excited to share a sneak peek of the courses @tgr.design and I designed for @popstroke Sarasota, which opens on Thursday, April 28th. Stay tuned for more details,” wrote Woods in an Instagram post Wednesday.

In a news release, Woods touted the putting courses as a project that people can at any age or experience on the golfing green.

“We are excited to introduce PopStroke to the Sarasota community as we continue our expansion,” said Woods.

“PopStroke is about bringing friends and families together to create lasting memories around the game of golf. We have created two 18-hole putting courses that can be enjoyed by all, regardless of age or skill level. We look forward to welcoming a new generation of players to our unique putting experiences at PopStroke Sarasota.”

Although Woods has designed golf courses since 2006, this endeavor makes for the first time that the former World No. 1 has been involved in the creation of putting courses, according to CNN.

PopStroke Entertainment Group is co-owned by entrepreneur Greg Bartoli and Tiger Woods’ TGR Ventures. CNN added that the group currently has two other locations in the Florida cities of Fort Meyers and Port St. Lucie that include design influence by Woods.

“We are incredibly excited to bring our unique entertainment brand to the Sarasota community,” said Bartoli per the news release.

“I have spent countless hours visiting Sarasota with my children for youth sporting events over the years and have long recognized the attributes that make Sarasota such a vibrant and thriving community. With an abundance of young families, working professionals, and retirees, Sarasota is the perfect fit for all that PopStroke has to offer in bringing people together across generations to enjoy the game of golf in an affordable, fun, and competitive environment.”

AUSTIN, Texas (April 20, 2022) 一 It was a good day for Wyatt Worthington III at the 54th PGA Professional Championship. Wyatt, who is fron Reynoldsburg, Ohio, tied for 4th place at the event that earned him $27,000.

Wyatt’s total: -5 R1: 67, R2:70, R3:69, R4:73 (206).

Wyatt, in 2016, made history when he became the first African-American club pro in 25 years to play in PGA Championship. One highlight of his life is when he was just 13-years-old and had the opportunity to receive a short golf lesson from Tiger Woods.

Jesse Muller won the event and lifted the Walter Hagen Cup on Wednesday afternoon, however, Mueller grabbed hold of the premier event for PGA Professionals in the first three rounds and never let go.

Mueller (273) took a five-shot lead into the final round and, despite a slow start, finished with a steely 74 to win the 2022 PGA Professional Championship at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa by five shots over Michael Block and Jared Jones.

Mueller, 39, never found the peak form that he flashed over the Championship’s first three days, which yielded rounds of 66, 67 and 66, and only four bogeys.

Click HERE for 2022 PGA Professional Championship Leaderboard

Wednesday was different. Was it the stakes or the big lead? Maybe he’s merely mortal after all?

Whatever the reason, Mueller bogeyed two of his first four holes and three of his initial eight.

“It’s a different mentality when you’re up by that much,” said Mueller. “You don’t want to step back and not be aggressive. That’s how things can get away from you.”

Despite his early struggles, his perch at the top of the leaderboard was never challenged. He largely coasted, avoided big numbers and played to his strength, his short game.

A chip-in for birdie on the 10th was reminiscent of his early-round play, and it reminded the General Manager from the Grand Canyon University Golf Course in Phoenix just what separated him from the rest of the field.

“I had another chip-in today, but my chipping the first three days was as good as it could be,” said Mueller, who became the first member of the Southwest PGA Section to win the PGA Professional Championship. “I chipped in three times on the week and I was getting up and down all over the place.”

While Mueller’s game from 50 yards in was rock solid, it was the hand that pulled the wedges from the bag that was his rock.

Mueller’s caddie all week was his wife, Jessie (note the different spelling), and the couple even celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary during Sunday’s opening round. Since it was Easter Sunday and everything was closed after a late tee time, the couple shared Domino’s Pizza.

Their week away got better and better until three nights later, with the Walter Hagen Cup in hand and his wife by his side, the only post-round phone call was to check in on Jesse’s mother-in-law, who was watching the couple’s two children back in Phoenix.

“So much of golf is being comfortable in your own shoes,” said Mueller. “I’m more comfortable with (Jessie) than anyone and that showed in my game this week. She helped me stay grounded, cool and collected in good or bad moments all week long.”

What did Jessie learn in Texas about her husband that she hadn’t gathered in the previous dozen years of marriage?

She paused for a moment or two before answering.

“I used to caddy for him more often in the past, even when we were dating. I feel like he plays more methodically now than he did then. He’s improved his course management and he’s not taking the risks he used to. He never found horrible trouble or made a big number.”

For Jesse, the victory is “definitely my number-one accomplishment. Playing in a Major (the 2012 U.S. Open) was awesome, but to win this one… I cannot think of anything better in my golfing career.”

Block, the 2014 PGA Professional Champion and Head Professional from Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, Mission Viejo, California, was consistently good all week and shared runner-up honors with Jones, the Director of Instruction at River Oaks Country Club in Houston.

Block posted a 73 on Sunday and earned his fourth PGA Championship berth in eight career trips to the PGA Professional Championship, while Jones (71) will be making his debut as a member of the PGA of America’s Team of 20 at Southern Hills next month.

The low 20 scorers earned exemptions into the 2022 PGA Championship, May 16-22, at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.