Given the premise that golf is a good and powerful teacher for individuals, especially children, the Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation has a program to promote the building of short courses (three, six or nine hole) that provide affordable access to golf across the country.
To bring about the new venues and make these feeder short courses a reality, the Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation partners with communities, park districts, YMCA’s, developers, existing golf courses, hospitals, forest preserve districts or school districts that can donate the land and operate the facility. In addition, a team of Company Partners from the golf course construction and golf facility industry is being established, who will whenever possible contribute profit, goods or services to create the short courses at a significantly lower cost. In addition to a financial contribution, the Wadsworth Foundation would work with the ownership group to secure Funding Partners that are interested in becoming a title sponsor for the Links Across America course or be the major donor and have it named after their company or family.
In conjunction with the Links Across America initiative, a Links guidebook has been developed. The Links guidebook serves as a resource document provided to potential owners, Company Partners, Corporate or Foundation Funders, and associates in the golf industry. The Links guidebook consists of design and operating templates, information on the Company Partners, opportunities for Corporate/Foundation Funders, round projections, budgets and financial pro formas, marketing and promotional ideas, and other materials to assist and enable Links Across America short courses to achieve many positive results while graduating future golfers to the next level of regulation courses.
The need for this type of facility is being reconfirmed by the positive responses the Wadsworth Foundation has received from park districts, municipalities, YMCAs, and First Tee chapters across the country.
The goal of the Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation is to develop two short courses per year. The foundation was founded in 1997 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Ohio-based Wadsworth Golf Construction Company. Over the foundation’s 15-year span, it has contributed more than $4.5 million to organizations and programs in communities dedicated interested in maintaining golf as a way of life for their residents.