the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Paramus NJ, on Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at 2PM, United Airlines, the Official Airline of the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and Web.com Tour, is flying nine Special Olympic athletes—all of whom are top Special Olympic golfers—to THE NORTHERN TRUST for an inside-the-ropes, VIP experience with three PGA TOUR players: Rafa Cabrera Bello, Charley Hoffman, and J.J. Spaun. At The Ridgewood Country Club, the athletes will be escorted to their personal lockers in the locker room and will then participate in a skills clinic led by New Jersey Golf Foundation professionals. Each athlete will then proceed to the first tee of the tournament course to play three holes with one of the top 125 players on the PGA TOUR. Each athlete will be officially announced on the first tee. Following play, the athletes and their guests will attend a reception in the United Airlines Fairway Club.
2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Special Olympics, the world’s largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities, with over 5 million athletes in 172 countries. Through connecting golfers from two of United’s relationships, this event epitomizes the mission of Special Olympics in that it joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team to promote social inclusion on and off the field of play.
Earlier this year, United Airlines announced the expansion of their relationship with Special Olympics globally, celebrating in their shared vision to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities by breaking down barriers and promoting inclusion.
WHO: Nine Special Olympics Athletes (click here for detailed bios on each athlete):
Tyler Lagasse- Special Olympics Massachusetts
Scott Rohrer- Special Olympics South Carolina
Peter Condon- Special Olympics Washington
Brock Aoki- Special Olympics Utah
Garrett Stortz- Special Olympics Alaska
Thomas Cleek- Special Olympics Missouri
Kent Menendez- Special Olympics Southern California
Kyle Aragon- Special Olympics Southern California
Douglass Hodges – Special Olympics Northern California
3 PGA TOUR pros:
Rafa Cabrera Bello
J.J. Spaun
Charley Hoffman