U.S. Navy Admiral Craig S. Faller surrounded by participating juniors and committee members during the MWGA Junior Golf Mentor Day, 2010.
It is no secret that golf and life experiences are closely related. In Detroit, those life experiences for young people have been tempered by a tough economy, lack of job opportunities, absent parents, and rampant crime. To help stave off this situation, the Michigan Women’s Golf Association has been conducting golf programs for junior girls for many years. In recent years, mentoring events have been added and this year, in conjunction with the U.S. Navy’s War of 1812 Bicentennial celebrations in Detroit September 3-10, Detroit’s First Lady, Mrs. Yvette Bing, will join prominent women from the metro Detroit business and sports community, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Michigan Women’s Golf Association (MWGA) for 9 holes of golf and life instruction at Idyl Wyld Golf Course in Livonia, Michigan on Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 9am, with lunch to follow at noon.
A relationship with the U.S. Navy and MWGA began in 2008 when Navy Recruiting District-Michigan supported a nutrition, fitness, and mentoring program in conjunction with the LPGA/USGA/MWGA Girls Golf Program in Detroit. Military statistics on the health of our youth are dim: over 80% of potential enlistees, ages17-19, are rejected, mostly because they cannot pass a basic fitness test. Obesity, chronic health conditions, lack of a high school diploma, or morals issues are other factors. In 2010, Rear Admiral Craig S. Faller, Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, visited a similar USGA/LPGA/MWGA Mentor Golf Day at Dearborn Hills GC in Dearborn and declared it “one of the most important events I have ever attended; to see these young women and their parents in this setting – to see the future before me – is remarkable.” Admiral Faller is now Director of Operations, U.S. Central Command.
The award-winning MWGA, a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, is the premier women’s golf association in Michigan and also considered one of the most innovative and forward thinking organizations in the U.S.
KingPar Golf in Flint, the largest supplier of golf equipment to the military, will supply golf clubs to Navy women attending the event. Donations to the MWGA Girls Golf Program are always welcome. For more information, please visit www.mwgolf.org
For additional information on 1812 Bicentennial events, visit www.1812Detroit.com or www.ourflagwasstillthere.org.
