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"Golf, Grow, Grades, Graduate"
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Golf, Grow, Grades, Graduate is a program developed by the Pittsburgh Youth Golf Foundation in conjunction with the Tri-State Section of the PGA of America. The program introduces the game of golf to the at-risk youth of our community. The objective of the organizers is to use golf as a medium to improve a child's self esteem, self-discipline and development of responsibility and perseverance.

The Pittsburgh Youth Golf Foundation was founded in 1991 by members of the Pittsburgh professional and business community. Their common thread was simply to give something back to the youth of the greater Pittsburgh region. They focused on children from the inner city and economically depressed areas surrounding the city. They wanted to reach children of all races and genders.

The idea of offering this opportunity to enhance the lives of disadvantaged youngsters through golf has a proven record of success as seen by professionals in the field of golf. To insure success, it is important to involve children in their formative years.

The Founders of this organization asked for nothing from the Pittsburgh regional community and started from scratch getting funding and building a vision.

"In my 27 years as a middle school principal and 37 years as an educator, I have only seen a handful of programs that have sparked the children's imagination and their willingness to explore new horizons. The golf program ranks with the very best because it has clear goals; it has highly competent and enthusiastic teachers; it helps build student's self-esteem; it rewards good performance; and perhaps, best of all, it opens the world of golf to a new generation of young people."

Carl O. Berdnik
Principal of Sterrett Classical Academy