Special Olympics Florida Golf Invitational

Of the many Causes we are involved with, Special Olympics Florida is very near and dear to our CEO Phil Ruggieri. Phil has been involved with Special Olympics for many years and therefore, since Phil joined us 4+ years ago, we have been involved with Special Olympics. Special Olympics is the world’s largest program of sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. They currently serve more than 3.7 million persons with intellectual disabilities in more than 170 nations. This past Friday we had the opportunity to participate in the 3rd Annual Special Olympics Florida Golf Invitational at Walt Disney World® Resort. The proceeds from this tournament allow for Special Olympics Florida to improve the lives of Florida’s citizens with intellectual disabilities by providing year-round sports training and competition at no cost to our athletes or their caregivers. Thanks to the commitment of sponsors and the tournament committee, Special Olympics is able to pursue their mission of making the joys and benefits of Special Olympics a reality to more athletes each year. The event included a reception Thursday evening followed by a double golf on Friday with two shotgun starts (early morning and early afternoon) followed by an awards banquet Friday evening. All of the events were held at Disney’s Palm and Disney’s Magnolia Golf Courses. We were fortunate enough to have a foursome in the afternoon round, I joined Phil Ruggieri and two of our friends. None of us won the longest drive, closest to the pin or hole in one contests, but we did have a lot of fun. How did we play you ask? Well, let’s just say the company was great. Most importantly, close to $1 million was raised to help support the more than 17,000 Special Olympics heroes across Florida, and we were glad to be part of such a great event.