Youth on Course, a non-profit organization that subsidizes green fees for young golfers across much of North America, this week announced it is awarding nearly $300,000 as 20 scholarships to members who are high school seniors this year.
Youth on Course was founded in 2006 by the Northern California Golf Association with the goal to provide kids the chance to play golf for $5 or less. The program has expanded to more than 1,400 courses across the United States and into parts of Canada. More than a million subsidized rounds have been played since, with the organization picking up the difference between the kids’ $5 and the rest of a negotiated green fee. The group has more than 100,000 young members.
Since the inception of Youth On Course’s scholarship program in 2008, 280 members have been awarded financial support totaling $2 million, and the graduation rate for those on scholarship has been 93 percent.
“Pursuing higher education, much like the game of golf, shouldn’t hinge on the financial burdens it places on young people,” Michael Lowe, vice president of programs for Youth on Course, said in a media release announcing the 2021 scholarship recipients. “These 20 students are among the brightest in the country and we, along with our scholarship donors, are proud to help them continue to work towards their dreams on and off the golf course.”
The average grade point average of this year’s winners is 4.39, and six of the recipients will play college golf with five others possibly joining their collegiate teams. The recipients are (name, home, college, major):
- Bryson Berry of Lexington, Kentucky; Dartmouth College. Intended major: Government/Economics
- Tyler Bianchi of Carmel, California; University of Colorado – Boulder. Intended major: Business Management
- Marion Caldwell of Farmington, New Mexico; Dartmouth College. Intended major: Undecided
- Ryan Choi of Cockeysville, Maryland; Carleton College. Intended major: Economics
- Jalon Cook of Stockbridge, Georgia; Kennesaw State University. Intended major: Computer Science
- Keleona Jiminez of Durham, North Carolina; Winston-Salem State University. Intended major: Business Administration
- Viveka Kurup of Redwood Shores, California; Bucknell University. Intended major: Computer Science
- Faith McKinney of North Las Vegas, Nevada; Chicago State University. Intended major: Criminal Justice
- Tayelor Morgan of Columbia, South Carolina; College of Charleston. Intended major: Biology
- Yen Nhi Nguyen of Portland, Oregon; Lehigh University. Intended major: Political Science/International Relations
- Noah Nuez of Laveen, Arizona; United States Naval Academy. Intended major: Nuclear Engineering
- Leland Pan of Naperville, Illinois; University of Illinois of Urbana Champaign. Intended major: Political Science
- Naree Philavanh of Lincoln, Nebraska; University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Intended major: Marketing
- Roman Ramirez of San Antonio, Texas; Our Lady of the Lake University. Intended major: Mathematics
- Jamie Saliba of Berkley, Michigan; St. Mary’s College, Ind. Intended major: Criminal Justice
- Monica Solis of Clemmons, North Carolina; Gettysburg College. Intended major: Political Science
- Borina Sutikto of Fremont, California; Santa Clara University. Intended major: Accounting and Information Systems
- Belinda Sutikto of Fremont, California; San Jose State University. Intended Major: Business/Economics
- Adora Wen of Dublin, California; University of California – Berkeley. Intended major: Mathematics/Economics
- Michelle Yang of Woodbury, Minnesota; University of Wisconsin – Madison. Intended major: Marketing/Finance