The FabGolf program has introduced more than 80 kids to the game of golf. The Green Valley Country Club in Portsmouth, R.I. has given the youngsters access to all 18 holes, a driving range, putting green, chipping areas and clubhouse amenities, and club pros Gary and Mike Dorsi have helped them start a PGA Jr. League team. The Director of FabGolf, Orlando Peace, was recently joined by other professionals for a junior clinic at Wanumetonomy Country Club in Middletown, R.I.
Orlando Peace is passionate about golf. His day job at FabNewport as Director of the FabGolf program, is devoted to sharing that passion with the young athletes of Aquidneck Island, offering kids who might not otherwise pick up a golf club access to the gentleman’s game and the multi-billion dollar industry that comes with it, the Newport Daily News reported.
FabGolf has been grateful to call Portsmouth’s Green Valley Country Club home for over a year, where local kids who practice up to six days a week have been granted access to all 18 holes, a driving range, putting green, chipping areas and clubhouse amenities, and club pros Gary and Mike Dorsi have helped them start a PGA Jr. League team, The Newport Daily News reported.
On Aug. 8, however, the kids were honing their skills at Wanumetonomy Country Club, where Peace, PGA representative Jordan Gold and Wanumetonomy golf pro Bill Maguire, a PGA member and East Providence native, put on a junior clinic for the kids before the club hosted a fundraiser tournament and dinner on behalf of FabGolf, The Newport Daily News reported.
Peace is a consummate coach — even as he spoke with The Daily News, he would pause to answer a question: “No, you can’t switch clubs. Keep hitting till you get it right with that one” — or offer a pointer on footwork — “Square your feet and aim for that tree to the right of the flag, because I don’t want to take anybody to the emergency room this early.”
FabGolf engages its kids year-round, and Peace is always out in the local neighborhoods, knocking on doors in Newport Heights, Park Holm and other local neighborhoods to build relationships and impact kids’ lives, The Newport Daily News reported. Through the generosity of their sponsors and partners, they have been able to introduce more than 80 kids to golf, use it as an anchor to impact their lives on and off the course, and provide them with exposure to the many career paths offered by the sport and its attendant industries.
When asked what Peace had taught them, many of the young boys practicing their approach shots told The Daily News he had helped them to make consistent contact, almost all of them admitting an initial instinct to absolutely wail on the ball as hard as possible which counterintuitively but reliably resulted in missing the ball completely.
“Orlando taught me a lot – keep your eye on the ball, and a have a slow backswing,” Dima, a 12-year-old boy from Newport in his second summer with FabGolf, said.
Brady, another 12-year-old waiting his turn to hit, chimed in, “Yeah – don’t try to kill the ball.”
There are also plenty of girls swinging a club for the first time because of FabGolf, and Peace said the program is actively working to provide even more young girls with access to the sport, The Newport Daily News reported. Maguire, the club pro, was working with Brady’s cousins, three sisters ranging in age from 11 to 16 and learning to golf while they are staying in Newport for the summer.
He voiced his appreciation for the opportunity to work with FabGolf, comparing the program’s efforts to increase access to the sport with the Button Hole course in Johnston, where La Salle Academy and University of Maryland golf star Juliet Vongphoumy first learned how to play, The Newport Daily News reported.
“Access is so important, and as access to this sport grows, the sport itself will continue to grow,” Maguire said.
Peace also made it clear his mission is to help the kids develop more than just a sweet golf swing, The Newport Daily News reported. He spoke animatedly about the life skills, social skills, academic habits and exposure to different industries provided to his athletes by their year-round participation in FabNewport’s programming, indicating that if one of his kids wasn’t in love with golf, FabNewport probably had another program to deliver the same benefits.
Peace explained that off the golf course, he helps kids find tutors, he builds relationships with their parents and caretakers, and sometimes even visits the principal’s office to advocate for students, The Newport Daily News reported.
“Academics has to be a part of what we do,” Peace said. “Academic success is going to give these kids the confidence they need to get to the next level in life.”
Jamari and Danny are two of the oldest kids in the program,The Newport Daily News reported. Jamari is a rising junior at Rogers High School, and Danny is a rising sophomore. While they both get to golf and learn from Orlando, they also have part-time summer jobs coaching and looking out for the younger kids in the program.
Jamari, who also plays outside linebacker for the Rogers football team, explained he approached Wanumetonomy looking for a summer job in 2021, and Orlando suggested he join FabGolf instead, to work part-time and learn a new sport, The Newport Daily News reported.
However, he said he still prefers learning from Orlando to coaching the other kids, and he is enjoying the challenge of reigning in his football strength for the precision and focus required by golf.
“It helps me to coach the younger kids because then I have to think about the game and get to understand it more myself,” Jamari said.
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