Many other sports are loud and boastful, whereas Golf is silent and potent. While on the green, one must show great poise and control to effectively maneuver the ball. Ace Kids Golf is diversifying the taste of sports for the youth, by contributing to the discipline, wellbeing, and love of children. Ace Kids Golf members are in agreeance that this sports experience is a hole in one.
Ace Kids Golf was founded in 1998, by Henry Loubet and Tom Williams and is currently fully supported by the non-profit organization, The Pinkney Foundation. Ace Kids Golf is the premier East Bay Junior Golf Program at Primetime, an indoor golfing facility in Oakland, California. Through the vision and actions of Henry Loubet and Tom Williams, coupled with Primetime Golf Founder and Ace Kids Golf Program Director, Coach Preston Pinkney, the golf program recently celebrated 25 years of successfully providing high caliber golf services to thousands of the Bay Area’s youth.
Ace Kids Golf’s complimentary program provides children from the ages of 5 to 18 with uniforms and equipment and from there, they receive stellar golf coaching. Airieanna Murrel, one of the young ladies of Ace Kids Golf, says one of the reasons she enjoys golfing is because of the one-on-one time with herself and the silence that it brings. “It allows me to collect my thoughts and think about what was good today.” Another Ace Kid student highly recommends golfing to his peers because they get to learn golf and life lessons. Ace Kids Golf’s Sports Psychology program grants students the intelligence on how to conduct their personal assessments with the goal of developing perseverance, essential life skills like honesty, integrity respect, and sportsmanship.
The Pinkney Foundation continues their prolific work with the youth in the community by adding another component to the organization. In 2023, they partnered with the Oakland Unified School District Expanded Learning Department for the “Girls Love Golf” clinics hosted by Terry T a.k.a. “Mr. Community”. The “Girls Love Golf” program specifically focuses on young girls and supports title IV by providing girls in grades K-5 an opportunity to learn the game of golf. Through professional instruction and game activities at a local golf course and/or playground, girls learn essential life skills, such as fitness, nutrition, and mental health practices. This series of instructional clinics and golf services is coordinated with community recreation centers, youth organizations, schools, and local golf courses. Additionally, the “Girls Love Golf” participants get to connect with and learn directly from the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
For thirteen years, the children’s golf club also extended lessons of basic golf skills to the boys at Camp Sweeny, a 60-bed, semi confinement residential treatment center that serves as a local alternative to group homes for juvenile males ages 15 to 18 years old. The lessons for those young men at Camp Sweeny included appreciation of the golf lifestyle by learning etiquette, respect of themselves, others, and the golf course.
Ace Kids Golf is also a recipient of the 2017 HI Impact Award from Hello Insight, a recognition that is given to the top 4% of programs in the country that utilize positive youth development practices for social and emotional learning. They also have a major partnership with Eat. Learn. Play., an organization co-founded by Stephen and Ayesha Curry, that supports the children’s wellbeing through the access to nutritious meals, quality reading resources, and opportunities to play and be active. Ace Kids Golf was invited to be featured in an Under Armour® commercial with the 4-time NBA Champion. The kids were provided with new and unreleased Curry Brand UA Range Unlimited golf gear and a session of golf with the Champ.
In an effort to continue being a driving force for change by spreading the love of golf, enriching lives, and strengthening communities one swing at a time, Toyota Walnut Creek generously donated Ace Kids Golf a refurbished Toyota Tundra. This remarkable contribution serves as the primary vehicle to tow their mobile golf simulator, enabling the foundation to introduce essential life skills through golf to communities far and wide.
In an interview with Golf.com, Preston Pinkney—the 2023 Jefferson Award Recipient, told the story of how he began working with the Ace Foundation as a shuttle driver, which led to him leading an outing to an AT&T Pebble Beach Pro AM Championship. He had the rare opportunity to observe golf extraordinaire, Tiger Woods and from there, he visualized the unexpected, allowing his mind to discover the endless possibilities that golf could deliver. Eventually, Coach Pinkney evolved from driver to program coordinator to having a seat at the table as a member of the board of directors of the Northern California Golf Association. Although his hyphenates may have expanded, Preston Pinkney maintains that same energy of being dedicated to the youth and to golf.
The Pinkney Foundation is headed back to the exclusive Blackhawk Country Club Lakeside Course in Danville, California on March 25th, 2024, for the highly anticipated and exhilarating Battle @ The Hawk 3rd Annual Golf Classic, presented by Summit Bank and Kinder’s. This year, the classic celebrates 25 years of success with Ace Kids Golf.
For more information on The Pinkney Foundation www.ThePinkneyFoundation.org
Learn more about Ace Kids Golf by visiting www.AceKidsGolf.org
Photo Credits: Pinkney Foundation
Great program. Great beacon of light for the community of children and foundation of golfing.