Kiawah Island, SC (May 17, 2021) – The PGA HOPE Secretary’s Cup is complete after a beautiful day at Osprey Point Golf Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. PGA HOPE (Helping Our Veterans Everywhere) is a nationwide rehabilitation program for veterans that aims to impact the lives of veterans mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally. North and South Carolina have eleven locations with PGA HOPE programs where veterans can get help with physical and emotional disabilities at no cost to them.
Covid-19 has changed the face of many golf outings and tournaments this year, including the Secretary’s Cup. Instead of all PGA HOPE Teams competing together in one location, teams competed against each other from local satellite sights. Six PGA HOPE Carolinas teams competed at Osprey Point and six other PGA HOPE teams competed around the United States; these sites included New York, New Jersey, Kentucky, and California. Remote sites connected with the host site of Kiawah Island by live streaming into the opening and closing ceremonies and online scoring through GolfGenius.
During the opening ceremonies, a group of ambitious teens dubbed ‘The Old Town 5 Boys’ were highlighted for their hard work in fundraising for PGA HOPE. Kyle Haas, Rhodes Baker, Fisher Kennedy, Robert Gefaell, and Preston Howe raised over $18,000 for PGA REACH Carolinas during the 100 Holes of HOPE marathon golf fundraiser in Winston Salem, North Carolina. These funds will be used to fund veterans’ programs in the Carolinas and continue to drive PGA HOPE’s mission to impact the lives of veterans through the game of golf.
Home field advantage was one of the benefits Josh Wagaman, PGA and the Kiawah Island team had over the rest of the field. Team Kiawah Island won the 2021 PGA HOPE Secretary’s Cup with a score of ten under. Jim Hardy, PGA and the Southern Pines 1 team tied the Kiawah Island team but lost in the final hour with a scorecard playoff.
During closing ceremonies, PGA President Jim Richerson thanked all the teams for participating both on site and at remote sites and he thanked the PGA professionals for helping grow PGA HOPE’s program initiatives. Next year’s PGA HOPE Secretary’s Cup will be played at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
PGA HOPE Secretary’s Cup Past Results
2016 – Team Long Island at Fiddlers Elbow Country Club | Bedminster, New Jersey
2017 – Team New Jersey at Charlotte Country Club | Charlotte, North Carolina
2018 – Team New Jersey at Whitmoor Country Club | Weldon Spring, Missouri
2019 – Team Charleston at Bethpage State Park | Farmingdale, New York
2020 – Cancelled due to COVID-19
2021 – Team Kiawah at Cougar Point Golf Course | Kiawah Island, South Carolina