GREENACRES, Fla. — Outside of the Honda Classic, South Florida organizations are using lessons learned from golf to give pack to the community through funding education.
Boca Raton native Brian Ramsey would agree.
"I feel like it teaches you a lot of patience," said Ramsey.
It's something that comes in handy in his latest journey as a student at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
"I'm a current finance major," explained Ramsey, "and I'm actually in a combined degree program where I'll be graduating with my Masters of Science in finance and my undergrad in finance in the four years that I'm here."
It's a lot but he's able to make the most of his time thanks to the generosity of organizations like Through the Game of Golf and people like board member Chris Cole. He said the idea for the charity started on the golf course and is now his way of giving back.
"We break down barriers," said Cole, "have fun whether it's any kind of sport. Obviously, we've come together as it relates to the game of golf."
Through annual fundraisers, the organization has been able to award more than $40,000 in scholarships over the past five years to South Florida high school students pursuing higher education.
The dozens of members don't only get tuition help but also mentoring.
"I want to teach them the ethics and the love of the game," said Cole, "because there's a lot of honor and dignity that's a part of this game. I mean, you can cheat, but you're only cheating your playing partners or yourself."
Honor, hard work and practice lessons learned on the golf course are translating directly into the classroom.
"I'm not the best and I definitely have my fair share of bad shots, but going out and I think just having a good attitude and looking for optimism, even out of bad things, because a lot of it is mental," Ramsey said.
A good attitude is teeing up South Florida's youth for the future.
