Making a Hole-in-One Difference WHEN A GREAT PASSION turns into a community organization dedicated to helping kids achieve their greatest potential, it’s a recipe for success. Masonic Village at Sewickley resident Bob Yeager’s love for the game of golf led to the formation of the Pittsburgh Youth Golf Foundation, which has mentored thousands of kids in need since 1991. “During the late 1980s, my wife and I were obsessed with golf,” Bob recalled, “although we weren’t very good at it.” Bob made many good friends through his love of the game, and realizing that he was in a relatively good place in life, wanted to give back. “At that time, we wanted to help at-risk kids who needed direction and whose futures weren’t very certain,” Bob said, “so I pulled together people I played golf with, and we started something.” The organization helped 50 kids from depressed former steelmaking towns through its first summer program, where the children learned the basics of golf. The program showed amazing promise in helping the confidence and overall mental and emotional wellbeing of the kids, and the organization took off. “One of the things that we wanted to do differently from other charities was to pay our own way,” Bob explained. “We didn’t want to rely on volunteers because there’s an inevitable drop-off of help.” Bob and his partners hired Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) teachers to ensure the instruction the kids received was top notch. As the program continued to grow, Bob and his partners’ goal was to gain a loyal group of sponsors and donors that could help ensure their mission continued. They 14
Summer 2020 Issue
Edith and Bob Yeager
succeeded. Over the lifetime of the charity, they have been able to teach more than 4,000 kids the joys of golf. The Pittsburgh Youth Golf Foundation works with around 100 - 150 kids every year through four different programs. Bob’s often asked why they use golf to help build confidence in underprivileged kids.
“Why golf? When you think about it, golf can offer some unique opportunities in learning. For instance, you have to call fouls on yourself. There isn’t a referee to call fouls,” Bob said. The foundation uses the tenets of the game to teach nine core values that help young people succeed in life: integrity, confidence, responsibility, trust, respect, courtesy, equity, accountability and the “edge” to compete in life. In addition to just learning the rules of the game in a structured format, the program also provides lunches, transportation and a “parent day” where the children can show off their new skills at the end of the summer. Bob said that although he’s the founder and was on the original board of directors for the organization, he always wanted others to lead. “I’ve been sort of on the fringes through the whole 30-year period,” he says.
