RON PILOT, 79
Keeping troubled kids on the course and off the streets
Glenmillsgolf.com
"I've had it pretty good in life, so 10 years ago I decided to do more to help the kids who are sent to the Glen Mills reform school [near Philadelphia], where I'm a board member. All the kids, who range from age 15 to 18, are sent here by the courts for getting in trouble with the law. I put them in charge of the school's golf course. They learn to run a pro shop, how to mow rough, rake bunkers. It's a whole new world for them. These are inner-city kids. Some have literally never stepped foot on a piece of grass before they get here. And they're not bad kids; they've made bad decisions. Like one kid I'll call 'Mike.' When he was 16, Mike had a job parking cars and decided to take a joy ride in a couple's BMW — for two days. Boys will be boys! Here, they learn structure, discipline. They get up at 4:30 a.m., work the register, fold shirts and run $250,000 diesel mowers. The kids can stripe a fairway as good as anyone at Augusta. They take what they learn into the world. We've had 400 kids from 27 states and placed 50 of them in paying jobs in the golf industry. [Laughs] No, Mike never did ride the mower."
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Credit: Carrie Boretz
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