The first annual Sacramento Junior Championship was held at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex on March 28 – 31, 2024.
In the fall of 2023, two members of the AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) came to Haggin Oaks to discuss with Morton Golf Foundation thoughts about hosting an AJGA junior tournament at Haggin Oaks.
Morton Golf Foundation had the vision of knowing they wanted to allow junior golfers to participate in the best competition at the most prestigious junior tour in the United States right here in Sacramento. This allowed several junior golfers in Northern California to sleep in their own bed and compete on a golf course they had competed on before. The seed was planted, and a five-year commitment contract was signed.
The first annual AJGA tournament was held at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex on the MacKenzie Golf Course on March 28 â 31, 2024. The field featured 96 juniors, ages 12-18, with a mixture of boys and girls. The excitement was overwhelming as the junior players anticipated that this tour would have college coaches looking at the players in the hope of offering college scholarships.
AJGA tournaments are played all around the United States. The AJGA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women players. The mission of the AJGA Foundation mirrors the mission of Morton Golf Foundation. When AJGA staff stepped onto the property of Haggin Oaks and began working with the Morton Golf staff it was seamless in providing a first-class event.
We are all excited for the future AJGA events at Haggin Oaks as we continue to give junior golfers their opportunity to shine.
Mark your calendar for April 17 â 20, 2025 to see the BEST junior golf talent playing right
The 27th Annual Free Pancake Breakfast & Easter Egg Hunt started under cloudy skies. As the 6,000 plastic eggs were laid out for age 0-10 kids the sun started to come out. As the sun continued to shine the families came out in droves to enjoy the greatest Easter Egg Hunt ever.
The lines of families coming out to enjoy the FREE pancakes was as long as the eye could see. Everyone was smiling & laughing as they watched the colorful Easter Bunny make her way to hug each child see saw.
As the families enjoyed the delicious pancakes flipped by Chef Blanca they all had the opportunity to color their placemat. Then it was on to the start of the Egg Hunt near Hole #1 of Arcade Creek Golf Course. As the kids were waiting for the clock to tick to 11:00 am for the egg hunt to start they all made sure they signed their name in chalk so the Easter Bunny knew they were there.
Thanks to all the volunteers who made this possible. It takes an entire TEAM as we all believe in giving back to our Arden-Arcade community.
The 8th Annual Capital Cup Charity Tournament was held on September 15, 16 & 17, 2023 with the new title sponsor of L5 Investments.
This yearâs 32 participating golfers raised $1,847,396.00!
In the past, this is the largest charity event in Sacramento. This event annually raises more charity dollars than the May Big Day of Giving.
Each participant pays a $2,500.00 fee to participate in the fundraiser. This fee covers all event administration and operations costs allowing 100% of raised dollars to go directly to each player’s charity.
I am sure itâs fun for the 32 players to play 3 competitive rounds of golf in 3 days but the real fun is watching each charity receive their WINNING check!
From the Board of Directors at Morton Golf Foundation we would like to thank everyone who donated, participated & supported us on our successful journey.
18-Year-Old Ietetsu Ueyama Organizes Fundraiser to Benefit Junior Golf Development Programs With Morton Golf Foundation
At the age of 8 a junior golfer, Ietetsu Ueyama, decided he wanted to host a birthday party at Haggin Oaks, but he didnât want his friends to give him a gift. He asked that his friends give a donation toward Morton Golf Foundation to support junior golf. The day ended with Ietetsu donating $455.00 to Morton Golf Foundation so another junior golfer could have the opportunity to play the game. More recently, Ueyema organized a mini golf night.
Ten years later, on July 17th, 2023, Ietetsu Ueyama, now 18 years old wanted to create another fundraiser to support Morton Golf Foundation. With all proceeds going to support junior golf development grants and grow their game through tournaments, coaching, and equipment.
For the past 4 months, Ietetsu has been using his great personality and skills by asking his friends and families for support in growing his next fundraiser.
Ietetsu has been a volunteer for Morton Golf Foundation since he has been 4 Âœ years old. At that time, he attended an âEaster Egg Huntâ at Haggin Oaks and decided that day that he was going to volunteer. For the past 14 years, Ietetsu has been an active volunteer in helping raise funds to give back to other non-profits to grow the game of golf. When he turned 18, he decided that he wanted to give back into adulthood and called the Morton Golf Foundation to discuss his newest adventure with creating his next fundraiser. The idea come about at a Committee meeting to have a Mini Golf Night knowing that whoever he asked to participate could join in whether they played golf or not.
On Monday evening, July 17th the fundraiser kicked off with 7 putting teams participating along with several donors that provided the opportunity for a junior to participate.
30 participants gathered in the 107-degree heat starting at 5:00 p.m. One participant was quoted as saying, âWe had so much fun at the event that I donât remember how hot it was.â
As the evening came to an end, a wonderful catered dinner was provided in the Pavilion Tent by his family, owners of Shoki Ramen House, 2530 21st Street, Sacramento.
The Winning team was won by Kelli Corlett, Ellis Morton, Evan Morton, Kenny Castro & Alex Cooper with a score of only 26 putts.
This year Ietetsuâs fundraiser will donate nearly $2,000 to support future junior golf development grants!
Frank LaRosa, a friend and board member of Morton Golf Foundation was the emcee of the event. Frank interviewed Ietetsu and asked if he would wait another 10 years to do a fundraiser since he did one at age 8 and age 18. Ietetsu answered back, âIâll do one every yearâ.
Are hats are off to our friend IETETSU UEYAMA for believing in the mission and organizing a thrilling mini-golf night. It is philanthropy like his that continues to help all ages of people through this amazing sport of golf, character building, and competition for a lifetime.
The Annual Putting Party Fundraiser for Morton Golf Foundation crowned Team Benbrook Law Group as its 2023 winner.
The MacKenzie putting green was set-up with 18-holes of âfunâ on Tuesday evening, May 9th. Fifteen Corporate Teams joined in the Morton Golf Foundation fundraiser where each team brought 5-putters and took the challenge of trying to win the 1st place spot.
This year, Benbrook Law Group brought their 5-person putting team of Brad Benbrook, Wes Ehlers, Tory Griffin, Greg Lauck & Dave Swanson to WIN the event.
All 15 teams put and laughed their way around the 18-hole putting course as they enjoyed appetizers, drinks, and a buffet dinner following.
The real winners are all the wonderful charities supported by Morton Golf Foundation.
Please join us next May when we meet again for more fun, laughter, and putting competition.
90 Years Young, The Haggin Oaks Story Premiered this week at The Crest Theater in Sacramento.
On Tuesday, December 13th at the historic Crest Theater in downtown Sacramento, nearly 700 golf staff, volunteers, city dignitaries, local media, customers, sales reps, vendors, and close friends and family celebrated the world premiere of this documentary to celebrate a very special golf course and its story.
Joel Johnston, Director, Haggin Oaks Turns 90
Everyone that came to the Crest Theater on Tuesday evening, December 13th was eagerly anticipating the premiere of 90 Years Young. They craved to hear the history and pass on their stories to everyone in the room.
Ken Morton,Jr., Joel Johnston, Joel Cardenas, and Terry Daubert
Joel Johnston, the film Director, worked for months along with members of the marketing team, Ozola Cody, Barrie March, and Joel Cardenas to create this historic treasure narrated by Frank LaRosa, the voice of Haggin Oaks for the past two decades. The film was written by Ken Morton, Jr, and Joel Johnston and produced by Ken Morton, Jr. and Joel Cardenas. The past 8 months have been dedicated to researching the past 90 years of history including the celebrities who have played here and the key people that shaped the course as we know it today.
The outside entrance to the historic Crest Theater had 6 large, framed posters advertising the 90 Years Young Celebration.
Our Volunteers
As the guests arrived, they were welcomed at the door by Ken Morton, Jr along with several of our California Eagles Athletes (Adults with disabilities). Guests checked in with our six smiling volunteers, so they could be given a ball marker poker chip to use on the golf course or as a lucky charm. The lobby beautifully displayed our Silent Auction, with all proceeds from the auction given to Morton Golf Foundation, a 501c3 giving back to local youth, disabled and underserved.Â
90 Years Young showed the growth of the land, people & game. We canât wait to see the next 90.
The Golf & Guitars Music Festival at Haggin Oaks Surpasses The 1.5 Million Dollars Fundraising Mark
Morton Golf Foundation Uses Funds To Support Programming For Youth, Veterans & Those With Disabilities
The Golf and Guitars Music Festival is a celebrity pro-am golf tournament and country concert featuring nationally recognized & major label country music artists that raises money for key childrenâs charities in Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, CA. Each golfer in the tournament plays with a celebrity and gets a seat near the stage where these generous artists put on a tremendous concert underneath the stars on the golf course. The hottest acts in country music, the up-and-coming artists youâll soon see topping the charts and some of Nashvilleâs very best songwriters are all donate their time to help raise funds for childrenâs charities. Much of the funds from the event go to the Morton Golf Foundation with the balance being paid out via a tournament purse to the artistâs childrenâs charity of choice.
This year started with decidedly female slant as the Monday night Singer-Songwriter Showcase was a near-all women event. Nashvilleâs downtown club The Listening Room has hosted an all-female songwriter collective show every Monday for the last decade or so called The Song Suffragettes and our event was able to host a âWest-Coast versionâ of their show with eight incredible young songwriter and artist talents including Kaylin Roberson, Lydia Dall, Bonner Black, Emily Brooke, Haley Mae Campbell, Jillian Dawn, Julie Williams and Olivia Faye. Daughter of PGA Tour player Bobby Clampett and wildly talented songwriter Katelyn Clampett and longtime supporters Megan Conner, Johnny and Heidi Bulford rounded out our first night playing for a few hundred VIP guests.
The next morning was our Pro-Am Tournament where all of the songwriters and artists play in a five-person gross score scramble format. Restaurants were on every other hole providing food, local Bud Light distributor Markstein Beverage (our longest-running sponsor) made sure no one went home thirsty and our Caddie Crew with nearly every group made for an incredibly fun day of golf. Golfers will be proudly wearing their Americana flag sweatshirt hoodies and caps that they received courtesy of another key sponsor, Adidas.
When the strokes were counted, these were our winning teams and the charities the artists chose to play for along with the dollar amount that was contributed in their name.
Steve Mendiola (Cripple Creek Band) – $5,000 â St. Jude Lydia Dall – $5,000 â Next for Autism Conner Smith – $4,000 â Show Hope Chris Roberts (The Lonely Fighters)- $2,000 â Valor Collegiate Academy Adam Wakefield (Texas Hill)- $2,000 â National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Kaylin Roberson – $2,000 â Hope Nation Foundation
The balance of our Tuesday was filled with incredible music from our main stage starting with our pre-show featuring Northern California act The Cripple Creek Band and new Americana duo The Lonely Fighters.
And before our main concert began, artist Jason Michael Carroll invited his four PGA Hope playing partners up for a standing ovation recognition and a gracious recognition gift from PING Golf who gave each of our veteran heroes a red, white & blue PGA Hope bag and a promise to fill it with a full set of custom clubs. Not a dry eye in the house was left from their response.
And lastly, but certainly, not least was the music. Jordan Fletcher, Conner Smith, Texas Hill, Jason Michael Carroll, Jackson Dean, Love & Theft, Restless Road and Ryan Hurd joined special last-minute guests Parmalee for three hours of musical celebration that lasted well into the evening.
The result? An incredible time had by all and a healthy addition to the more than 1.5 million dollars raised for charity with this event since its inception.
The Sacramento Golf Council First Annual Player of the Year Awards were held on October 3, 2022.
The following are the Sacramento Player of the Year recipients:
*Menâs Player of the Year, Matthew Sutherland *Womenâs Player of the Year, Sienna Lyford *Senior Menâs Player of the Year, Mark Morgan *Super-Senior Menâs Player of the Year, Jeff Burda
Each recipient was chosen from a Committee within the Sacramento Golf Council by their point system by this yearâs accomplishments.
They were all recognized in front of their family and friends at the Creekside Landing at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex. Their names were put on an inaugural plaque to be displayed at a City or Country golf course of their choosing.
Ken Morton, Sr told the history of the Sacramento Golf Council as it started in 1952 as everyone felt the growth and need as the Council continues.
Matthew Sutherland was quoted as saying, âI am honored to be the first name on the plaque as we kick off this prestigious awardâ.
We look forward to the growth of these awards in many years to come.
Are you, or someone that you know interested in rehabilitating using the game of golf? Golf Fore Health is the answer!
This program consists of a spring and fall program that provides the participants the opportunity to improve their golfing skills while on their journey of recovery. These sessions consist of coaching sessions on Mondays and 9-hole play on Wednesdays. Each of these sessions concludes with a âHot Dog Scrambleâ where the participants can have family, friends, or caretakers play nine holes of golf with them.
Due to the requests of the participants, a July/August âSummer Schoolâ was added last year on alternating Mondays to allow the golfers to continue to hone their skills and maintain their friendship during the âdog daysâ of July and August.
This program has been growing in leaps and bounds over the past few years and includes participants aged 16 through the âyoungâ 80âs. Such growth has been made possible through the dynamic coaches and volunteers that work with the participants.
Golf Fore Health is another example of how the Morton Golf Foundation uses golf as a tool for enriching peopleâs lives.
If you are interested in our Golf Fore Health Program, Click HERE
The Special Olympics Golf Reginal was held at Haggin Oaks on September 9, 2022. We were thrilled to host all of the athletes and families that participated.
Today was a very special day at Haggin Oaks. Itâs been 3 years since the last Special Olympics Golf Regionals has held due to COVID-19.
The Special Olympics Athletes started to arrive, the volunteers were in place & the BBQ grills were cooking burgers.
36 Athletes had the opportunity to play 9-holes of golf & 100 more Athletes were transported to the back of the driving range to compete with their golf skills. No matter which way the Special Olympic Athletes competed everyone went home with a medal.
From the time everyone stepped onto the property of Haggin Oaks until the time that Alex Cooper, Director of Youth, Family & Adaptive Golf officially closed the Summer Games everyone was enjoying a healthy outdoor recreational golf experience.
We all canât wait for next yearâs Special Olympics Golf Regionals.
