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The 19th Hole
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 McLaughlin gave Tiger Woods his first PGA Tour exemption in 1992 (PHOTO: Getty Images). A lot of that success can be attributed to Greg McLaughlin, who has served as president and CEO of the Tiger Woods Foundation since 1999. McLaughlin, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, oversees the foundation’s educational programs and major fund-raising events — including this month’s Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks. McLaughlin is largely responsible for Woods’ first PGA Tour appearance at the 1992 Nissan Open. The two have stayed close since, and McLaughlin, who says he’s around a 13 handicap, has even managed to tee it up on occasion with the Cypress native and top-ranked golfer. I started my career in golf as tournament director of the Nissan Open [now the Northern Trust Open] in 1988. I had been a volunteer for the event before then — I was a marshall one year and I sold programs another year. The L.A. Junior Chamber of Commerce was looking for someone to focus on sales and marketing, and that’s what my background was in. I first heard of Tiger Woods in 1990. He was dominating junior golf around Southern California, and the Los Angeles Times was doing a good job of covering him. I tried to convince the tournament board to give him an exemption for 1991, but they were aghast at the suggestion. He still almost made it through the Monday qualifier at Los Serranos Country Club. At that moment, they realized I wasn’t that crazy. I always thought Tiger would be successful as a professional because when I met him he had a tremendous amount of skill and focus. He was second to none — at least among any amateur I had been around — and he was still only 16. I spent a lot of time with him in amateur golf afterward and have maintained a relationship. I’ve known him almost 20 years, and seeing him develop as a person, a player, a father and a husband has been very rewarding. The growth of the Tiger Woods Foundation in my 10 years there has been phenomenal. It has in excess of $120 million in assets. It’s been phenomenal to see the more than 10 million kids we’ve been able to serve through the Foundation’s programs. For me, what’s been most rewarding is launching a college scholarship program in 2007, in which we’ve been able to touch a lot of kids’ lives that would not otherwise have had an opportunity to succeed. We’ve been successful in building the Chevron World Challenge, which is in its 11th year. This year I think we were kind of rewarded by being an official event for the World Golf Rankings, which is pretty unheard of for an unofficial event. I’ve played a handful of rounds with Tiger. You can’t help but be intimidated when you’re playing with someone that good. I hate to be cliché, but it’s almost like being within really close proximity of Albert Einstein. The most interesting thing about playing golf with him is that his golf acumen is incredibly high. You’ll hit a shot and it barely leaves the clubface, and he’ll say, ‘Wow, that’s a good shot,’ and the ball is barely in the air. Or, you’ll get to your ball, and he’ll be right on with yardages, like, ‘You’re 132 out.’ It’s just amazing. You’re playing in a foursome with him, and he’s hitting his own shots and playing his own game but then he’ll know how everyone’s playing and the shots they’re hitting. |
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We are so happy to see that Tigers Woods Foundation is supporting Haiti Disaster Relief Program and the Re-construction and the Re-building of Haiti. Your Vision for the Development of Haiti meets our Vision. We believe in the Decentralization of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Our Proposal covers a specific site of Haiti which can help Haiti to become self-supporting. This will be a Pilot project. In order words, we are looking for a durable and a sustainable Funding program for at least five years before becoming self-supporting. We will cover two other Departments of the Country North-East, North-west since we are already established in the Northern parts of the Country. Limbe-Cap-Haitian, Ouanaminthe and Port-de-Paix. Our Officers have been working in Development for over 25 to 30 years in Africa, Canada, Haiti and USA.
We will garantee to start producing after 3 to six months vegetables and beans to cover Port-Au-Prince and the Cap-Haitian Markets. Our Exportation Program will be one of the number one program. Agriculture, Commerce, Small Industries, Vocational Schools, Education, Roads, Reforestation and 26 to 27 miles of Railway-Train between Limbe-CapHaitian and Milot-Citadelle LaFerriere. By the end of January and February we will be in Haiti with a Delegation of 14 to 15 prospectives Investors. We are thinking of a Major Resort Center to receive LaBadie overflow Tourists since we are only at 20 miles from it.
| Comment at 1/18/2010 |
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