Solheim's Kids Golf Foundation brings golf to youths

Landing the Solheim Cup was a huge victory for the elite Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove.

It's also proving to be a win for thousands of children involved in the golf club's nonprofit Kids Golf Foundation, which aims to make golf accessible to children throughout Illinois.

The foundation has several responsibilities for the tournament, including providing kids to tote around the scoreboards to keep spectators up to speed. Twenty-six children and teens involved with the foundation were nominated and selected for this role; they will walk inside the ropes with tour professionals and alongside an adult scorer.

Holly Alcala, director of The Kids Golf Foundation, said youngsters selected as "standard bearers" are thrilled to meet the pros and be part of such a major event.

"It's a very big responsibility," Alcala said. "And when the bearers see each other practicing on the green, they start chatting about the experience and are making friends through this whole process. I think it's probably going to be a life-changing experience for many of them."

Changing lives through golf is exactly what the foundation has been trying to do since it was founded 11 years ago by Jerry Rich, founder of Rich Harvest Farms, and his lifelong friend Don Springer. The Foundation offers programs, special events, tournaments and fundraisers all aimed at exposing youths to all golf can offer.

"It's (Rich's) mission to bring golf to all children to help them not only love the sport, but provide educational opportunities to improves lives and career," Alcala said. "Of course they will learn technical skills like how to hold the club or to chip, but we're also teaching life skills like sportsmanship, honesty and integrity. We are trying to better children and the communities they live in."

Since its inception, the foundation has touched the lives of approximately 200,000 children from Chicago to Carbondale, offering programs through park districts, schools, and other nonprofit groups like the YMCA. Some programs, Alcala said, are aimed at introducing golf to children ages 5 to 15, while others aim to keep young golfers in the game for life.

"We're just so proud of them," she said. "We have many children who go on to volunteer with us as they get older, do internships, join their college or high school golf teams, or even find a college major that involves the sport."

The Kids Golf Foundation also sponsors the Solheim Cup FORE Kids Pavilion, an activity area for families and youth groups to check out a behind-the-scenes tour, scavenger hunt and more.

Alcala said the foundation's role in the tournament, as well as its continued outreach success, marks a high point in the organization's history.

"This is the culmination of everything we've done for the past 11 years," she said.