Lee Today

City of Cape Floral issued the following announcement.

Allen Manguson, PGA General Manager at the City’s Coral Oaks Golf Course, received the South Florida PGA Patriot Award for his work with the PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere) program and the Honor Flight Charity Fundraiser Golf Tournament.

Allen is the second recipient of the South Florida PGA Patriot Award. The Award recognizes a PGA member who personifies patriotism through the game of golf and demonstrates unwavering commitment and dedication to all who have served the United States. The South Florida PGA began recognizing the Patriot Award on the section level in 2019. “It is an honor and privilege to provide a program that gives back to those who made sacrifices for so many,” said Allen. “It is awe-inspiring to work with veterans with injuries, both visible and unseen, come out and interact to learn the game and just have some fun.”

Since the South Florida PGA Foundation adopted the PGA HOPE program in 2015, Manguson has implemented PGA HOPE at the City’s Coral Oaks Golf Course. He is a lead instructor and coordinator of the local program. PGA HOPE introduces golf to Veterans with disabilities to enhance their physical, mental, social, and emotional well-being. The program introduces the game of golf through a developmental curriculum that is taught by PGA Professionals who are trained in adaptive golf and military cultural competency.

PGA HOPE is the flagship military program of PGA REACH, which is the charitable foundation of the PGA of America. All programs are funded by PGA REACH and supplemented by PGA Section Foundations and programming is free to all Veterans.

The Honor Flight Charity Fundraiser Golf Tournament is another annual veteran’s event that is hosted at the Coral Oaks Golf Course in collaboration with Smart Companies. The fundraiser collects about $80,000 each year to benefit Honor Flight Network. Honor Flight Network transports America’s veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to honoring those who have served and sacrificed for our country.

Each year, the South Florida PGA honors its award winners at an award and Hall of Fame dinner, however, Allen will be recognized at an upcoming City Council meeting due to COVID-19.

Original source can be found here.