It All Comes Down To Eastlake

Golf is an amazing and nostalgic sport that I have grown to respect.  I consider myself a good athlete but this sport can not be mastered.  It requires so much time and mental focus.  Seems like it would be easy to hit a ball that isn't moving.  This is the game that I play when I need a taste of humble pie.

Like Major League Baseball and the NFL, the PGA has a season.  The Super Bowl of the PGA is the FedEx Cup that is played annually in Eastlake Atlanta, GA.  This week, the best golfers in the entire world is in my hometown of Atlanta.  This is the last golf tournament of the season and it all comes down to Eastlake.

Our L.E.A.D. supporter Belk made it possible for us to invite 18 young men from The B.E.S.T. Academy to Eastlake for this golf experience.

One of the young gentlemen from B.E.S.T. came up to me with a firm handshake and looked me in my eyes and said "Thank you for providing this experience.  I have never done anything like this in my life."  It became real to me that we were doing a good thing.

At the 18th Hole at Eastlake Golf Club

It made me think about how Atlanta can welcome the best golfers to our city and yet the best of our city can't see our guest like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson.  The B.E.S.T. Academy without a doubt is producing future leaders for the United States.  These young men are assets to the city of Atlanta.  They didn't get an opportunity to meet any golfers today but we were so close.  Nonetheless, they appreciated the experience and left feeling a sense of investment to the city of Atlanta.

That is Tiger Woods in the background. Sweet!

L.E.A.D.'s mission to provide at risk Atlanta males with access to higher education and civic engagement through baseball.  Today was civic engagement at a high level.  We had lunch at the 18th hole. Wow! How often do you get an opportunity to do that.  We also had access to the same Eastlake Golf Clubhouse as Tiger Woods.

Lunch at the 18th Hole at Eastlake Golf Club

Special thanks to Belk; Hope-Beckham Public Relations; Greg Boland, GE; Hajj Womack, B.E.S.T. Academy Middle School Principal; Lorrie Martin, B.E.S.T. Academy Parent Liaison; Barry Blackmon, B.E.S.T. Academy Teacher and Rendell Jackson, APS Office of Athletics.