Golf Magazine Innovator Awards 2007
7 of 12
The Samaritan
RON PILOT, 79
Keeping troubled kids on the course and off the streets
"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."
