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 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.

“We wanted to help at-risk kids, so I pulled together people I played golf with, and we started something.”

Top: A pile of new starter clubs rests by the green at the beginning of Pittsburgh Youth Golf Foundation’s third year. That year, the foundation doubled the number of kids in the program to more than 150. Bottom: The foundation made it their mission to provide transportation to and from the course. “There are so many talented people who have been able to bring the organization forward.”

He jokes that he’s been the “main cheerleader” for the group over the years.

Bob has been an emeritus member of the board of directors for some time now, and being in his 80s, was looking to retire. Like many who have moved to Masonic Village, he knew of its reputation within the community and had heard good things from friends.

“It was a pretty easy decision to come here,” he said. “Masonic Village at Sewickley has a fabulous reputation, head and shoulders above the rest.”

Bob and his wife, Edith, moved into one of the first newly-built villas last year, and found supportive staff who helped them move in and treated them like family. He remembers the story of an employee he met on campus who opened up about his personal life.

“He told me about how his own family life had improved because of the sense of community that he feels while working here — through the things he learns from those he works with and the residents he meets,” Bob recalled.

Bob hopes he has created the same sense of community through the youth golf foundation and is excited to celebrate the organization’s 30-year anniversary next year. They have a large event planned that will hopefully help further spread the word of the organization’s mission and its outcomes.

With this celebration, Bob can rest assured of the impact he has had on countless children and their families through his organization, which started as a group of golf buddies, but turned into a long-lasting program that really made a hole-in-one difference in their community.

Written by Jared Hameloth, public relations associate/intern