When we finished our golf round there was not any shaking of hands or high fives. We ended with friendly smiles and wishes on when to schedule our next round.
We all can’t wait to see each other, play more golf, and just talk about do you remember when?
Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!
During this uncertain and frustrating time, let us remember what makes Special Olympics great is that we are a family. So let us look to each other for support! Even when things look dark, there will always be a light. Remember the Special Olympics Torch represents faith and hope! When I get frustrated or even overwhelmed, God always takes care of me or uses me to be a light for others. Let us pray for each other and our nation.
Your Friend,
Jonathan Sparks
The pictures tell the true story. Over 30 juniors, family members, friends, and coaches participated in this annual event by paying it forward for the foundation. They all played “100 holes” on the E-9 at the Bing Maloney Golf Course and collected donations as they educated more people about Morton Golf Foundation. This event will continue each year because it is so powerful to see the juniors working toward their future in this wonderful game of golf.
100% of all donations from this event goes back to support the Junior Golf Development Grant program.
For the past 7 years (since he was 9 years old) Richie has been on Hole #14 during the Morton Golf Foundation’s largest fundraiser of the year, Golf & Guitars hitting drives and raising funds for the Foundation.
Richie is one volunteer that no matter what the task he is “in” for it all.
The Morton Golf Foundation is very proud to award Richie Gibbs with the 2019 award for 2019 Volunteer of the Year award.
Continue to look for Richie around Morton Golf Foundation events. He has a lot more to give!
On June 28, 2019, all participants gathered at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, CA, for a golf tournament demonstrating skill, sportsmanship and most importantly, fun times for all!
Cobra/Puma was the main sponsor of the event on this mild Friday morning which featurs junior players with their ‘senior’ partners.
Morton Golf Foundation was at the registration area early to greet everyone. As soon as the golfers drove off to start their 7:30 a.m. shotgun, the Morton Golf Foundation TEAM slipped off to decorate the “candy cart”. Each year the Morton Golf Foundation TEAM visits every golf hole to thank all the participants for coming out. The best part is that the TEAM offers each group a highly anticipated and much appreciated frozen Snickers bar. For those golfers that prefer a healthier alternative, Reese’s peanut butter cups were offered. 🙂
The Morton Golf Foundation TEAM are also some of the judges for the “Team Spirit” category. This is where each 2-person team has the opportunity to participate in dressing alike to add spirit to the event.
Before we knew it the golf round was complete and we were off to the luncheon.
The First Tee of Greater Sacramento gives out their annual college scholarships along with winning prizes for all age categories.
For next June, start thinking about who your partner will be for in your 2-person team & how you can create sportsmanship for the “Team Spirit” award.
Hope to see you there!
The sun was shining, the 6,000 plastic eggs were laid out for the Egg Hunt & the pancakes were fluffy & tasty. Nearly 1,000 people joined in the family activity as we all waited for the count down for the Egg Hunt at 11:00 a.m. sharp. As the 6,000 plastic eggs were quickly picked up with several of them being prize eggs with special gifts to win.
Easter Bunny will be back next year to see everyone for more spring like weather & more eggs to hunt.
Happy Easter from everyone at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex.
As everyone in Northern California knows by now, the recent fire in Paradise, CA, dubbed the Camp Fire, has been a devastating one. Paradise is located about an hour north of the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, and the continued reports and smoke that’s engulfed the valley are a grim reminder each day to its wrath. It has been reported that roughly 95% of the kids that go to Paradise High School have lost their homes and all their possessions. The 501 c3 Morton Golf Foundation wanted to step up and bring a sense of normalcy to some of the families that are undergoing almost unbelievable hardship. The board decided unanimously to utilize some of the 501 c3 funds raised during May’s Golf & Guitars Music Festival to have the boys’ golf team come down and be outfitted with new equipment and uniforms with Morton Golf Foundation covering the cost. When the Morton Golf Foundation reached out to the VP of Sales for COBRA-PUMA Golf, they stepped up and agreed to be our partner on this initiative – without any hesitation. Each member of the Paradise Golf Team and their families will also receive an invitation to Golf & Guitars to recognize them and give them something special up on stage during the event as well.
This video illustrates the impact of this gesture. Tom Mailey of KNCI’s morning Pat and Tom Show came over and filmed a short piece with Assistant Coach, Steve Suihkonen, and his son, Chase, from the Paradise High School. It details the Suihkonen’s personal experience and harrowing escape from the fire and has some personal photos of their loss. They were overwhelmed with the experience yesterday and reiterated over and over again how much this meant to them. Thank you to the whole board for helping make this happen. It’s appreciated!
Jonathan will be at The Habit Burger Grill, 7400 Laguna Blvd., Elk Grove, CA 95758 on December 17th from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. to greet everyone and tell his story.
Visit The Habit Burger Grill on Monday, December 17, 2018, from 4:00 pm – 10:00 pm and The Habit Burger Grill will DONATE 20% OF SALES from this event to benefit the Special Olympics Northern California Polar Plunge. Simply print out the accompanying flyer or show offer on your smartphone to the cashier upon ordering.
Follow this link to print the flyer: The Habit Burger Grill-2
What a wonderful way to support our California Eagles along with Special Olympics as we cheer Jonathan on!
Giving never tasted so good. Make it a HABIT!
This year we had four star athletes show up at 6:00 a.m. ready and raring to go to play their “100 Holes of Golf” for charity. As Tom Morton, Mike Woods, Barbara Allario and Rob Siebers teed off at the break of dawn to play for the juniors, we had Steve Stoll and Jose Mercado as the “Wingmen” to guide them through the course.
For the past few
This past year Morton Golf Foundation has helped 19 junior golfers as they earned junior grants.
These grants support a variety of efforts including upgrading equipment for progressing juniors, clothing allowances building self-esteem, tournament fees, including registration, hotel and travel fees, lessons and strength training. Grants are customized to maximize the value of the individual junior golfer.
In addition to building golf proficiency and learning life lessons through the game of golf, many of our juniors have dreams to use their golf talents to earn college scholarships.
The Morton Golf Foundation Junior Golf Development Grant is funded solely by the Sacramento Golf Marathon. Our planning stages are already gearing up for fall 2019. Continue to watch the website for updates and details.
Thanks to everyone for their continued support!
The weather today under a perfectly blue sky started out cool but quickly became great golf weather near 80 degrees.
Nineteen juniors, families & friends gathered at the Express-9 golf course at Bing Maloney to play “100 Holes of Golf”. For the past two
This is one time of the year where the juniors play golf for “fun” & not for competition. The goal is to tee off & get it in the hole. There is no lost ball, no score, only “fun”. As I went around the course cheering the players on I found them playing their own fun games among their groups. The juniors had the opportunity to win golf balls & hats as they played.
The juniors, families & friends ended the event sitting around a huge table telling golf stories, giving their wish list on where to attend college & just asking “what’s the next way they can help Morton Golf Foundation?”
This generation of golfers is exactly what this sport needs. We can’t wait to fast forward 10 years to hear the success stories of our Morton Golf Foundation juniors.