Palmer Foundation Enjoys Partnership with Northern Texas PGA and the First Tee

Dallas, TX The Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation in conjunction with the Ryan Palmer Foundation and The First Tee of Greater Dallas is pleased to announce an enhanced partnership to provide access to underserved kids to play competitive golf.

The Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation in conjunction with Ryan Palmer, a former NTPGA Junior Golf Foundation member and current PGA TOUR star, have been offering grants to facilitate playing opportunities for young people in northern Texas since 2005. The Ryan Palmer Foundation provides funds for junior golfers who otherwise would not be able to afford to join the NTPGA Junior Golf Foundation and to compete in tournaments at no charge.

What Ryan does each year for kids to be able to play golf is truly amazing, said Mark Harrison, Executive Director of the Northern Texas PGA. He has never forgotten his roots and is true to his Foundation™s mission to make kids™ lives better. What he does to give back to the game, in addition to the wonderful things he is doing in his hometown of Amarillo is truly changing lives. 

The Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation and The First Tee of Greater Dallas are enhancing their relationship to provide young people of all backgrounds, an opportunity to develop, through golf and character-education, a core set of life-enhancing values. 

Recently,The First Tee of Greater Dallas approached the Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation seeking assistance gaining playing opportunities for 27 kids in the program that had demonstrated clear potential for advancement in the game, yet lacked the financial means or access to transportation necessary to be able to play the game competitively. These are literal diamonds in the rough that with support from the community can truly find their way to the fairway and to a better way of life through golf, said Chuck Walker, Managing Director of The First Tee of Greater Dallas. 

Following our meeting, I knew that a call to Ryan Palmer™s Foundation may help make some of these kids™ dreams of playing competitive golf a reality,said Harrison. Within 48 hours, Palmer and his Foundation had approved expanding this year™s grant to allow all 27 kids from The First Tee to join our Foundation at no charge to the family, kids or The First Tee. It™s yet another example of Ryan™s character and his Foundations mission. 

The First Tee of Greater Dallas is providing funds to pay for the entry fees and will also coordinate transportation through their volunteers for the kids to travel and compete in various tournaments on the NTPGA Junior Tour this summer. The first event the kids will play in this summer is July 13 at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas. 

We are thrilled to be able to provide these kids with the opportunity to be able to join the NTPGA Junior Golf Foundation,said Billy Slaughter, Executive Director of the Ryan Palmer Foundation. Ryan and I and many of our friends grew up playing in tournaments all over west Texas that were conducted by the NTPGA Junior Golf Foundation. We all have many fond memories of those days and we formed bonds for a lifetime while playing the game. I can only hope that some of the kids from the First Tee will also create memories that will last a lifetime by playing this great sport. 

About the Charities

Founded in 1983, the Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, is committed to its mission of introducing the game of golf to a diverse group of kids in north Texas and instilling in them the positive, character developing traits for which the game is so well known. Each year, with a full circle of programs and services, close to 30,000 children and their parents are introduced to the game through: 

• Introduction Golf in Schools, Fairway to Success After School Program, and YMCA Camps
• Playing Team Golf
• Competition Prep, Medalist, Masters, and All American Tours
• Education College Scholarships
• Employment Intern Program
• Philanthropy Kids Play FORE Kids, Ewing Charity Classic, Birdies for Kids, and Brinker Charity Golf Classic 

The Ryan Palmer Foundation was founded on January 9, 2004 in order to focus on better opportunities and doing our best to make kids lives better. We are excited about all the wonderful charitable activities that my family and friends are truly blessed to be a part of: including youth golf clinics and tournaments, scholarship programs and endowments, educational programs, and our amazing projects for the kids of The Children's Hospital at Northwest Texas Healthcare System.

The First Tee of Greater Dallas is one of more than 200 independently-operated 501(c)3 chapter of The First Tee. To achieve the mission, The First tee of Greater Dallas conducts year-round in-school, after-school, and weekend and summer programs for more than 3,000 young people annually at seven dedicated facilities and a variety of schools, community centers, and partner agencies across the Greater Dallas area. Through The First Tee Life Skills Experience, participants learn the importance of maintaining a positive attitude, making decisions by thinking about possible consequences, defining and setting goals, and transferring positive values such as responsibly and sportsmanship from the golf course into their everyday lives. 

If you would like to learn more about the Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation, the Ryan Palmer Foundation or the First Tee of Dallas, please visit the respective websites at www.ntpga.com, www.ryanpalmerfoundation.org or www.thefirstteedallas.org.

 If you have any questions, please contact the Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation at (214) 420-7421.