Juan ZunigaStorm Soccer Academy recently announced that Juan Zuniga made the Under-15 Boys’ National Team roster. Only 20 athletes were selected for the team. Zuniga, from Bluffton, is a member of Storm’s ‘01 Boys Black Team. He has played with Storm since its inception in 2010. Zuniga, 13, attends River Ridge Academy.

Andrew OrischakHilton Head Island junior golfer Andrew Orischak was one of 54 participants to compete in the 2016 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club presented by Electrolux April 21-23 in Graniteville. Recognized as one of the premier junior players in the world, Orischak was invited to participate in the prestigious event that attracts many of the game’s top-ranked junior golfers from around the globe on an annual basis.

faldoThe Faldo Series, the global circuit of junior events created by six-time Major winner Sir Nick Faldo, has appointed the International Junior Golf Academy as its official golf academy partner. Rory McIlroy and fellow multiple Major champion and World No. 1 Tseng Ya-ni are among past winners on the Faldo Series, which was founded in 1996 and is supported by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. Recognized as the only global amateur series for boys and girls, the annual circuit features thousands of young golfers competing in 40 tournaments in over 30 countries across Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North and South America.

POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE GAME OF GOLF

PHOTO: From left, Caylen Green, Paul Caruso, Mike Davis, Daniel Deneen. Sitting: Juliana Vega.

How to Help?

The First Tee of the Lowcountry is in need of financial and equipment donations, sponsors and volunteers.

Nearly from the start, Hilton Head’s golf reputation was stellar. It’s only gotten better.

EDITOR’S NOTE: As part of Monthly’s yearlong 30th anniversary celebration, we are highlighting 30 years of different industries in each issue. This month, we feature the golf courses that helped shape Hilton Head Island, Bluffton and the surrounding Lowcountry.

Corbitt and Ferree inducted into local golf hall of fame

It should have come as no surprise when the Lowcountry Golf Hall of Fame announced it was inducting Cary Corbitt and Karen Ferree. It wasn’t a matter of if, just when.

Corbitt, vice president of sports and operations at Sea Pines Resort, and former Long Cove head pro and now amateur golfer Karen Ferree were both instrumental in establishing the Hilton Head Island Junior Golf Association and the local chapter of the Carolinas PGA in the early 1980s.

CADDYNo, not those guys. The caddies. And Bluffton’s Mark Carens is proof of what a good caddy can do.

The great champions of the game of golf become revered for their athleticism, held up in a pantheon of the sports finest, their names becoming synonymous with the very concept of excellence.

Bob CollarBob Collar works to honor local golfers on the course and off

Bob Collar is an energetic fellow. He walks quickly and talks fast, especially when the subject is the Lowcountry Golf Hall of Fame. That’s his baby.

Collar, 68, started the hall of fame last year to honor the great golfers who have called this area home or whose work has elevated the game.

In a ceremony in early February, the Carolinas PGA awarded Heidi Wright-Tennyson one of its highest honors, naming the longtime Moss Creek Club head professional as its 2015 PGA Golf Professional of the Year.

“[I was] shocked, honored and humbled. The Carolinas is a tremendous section with countless tenured and talented professionals,” says Wright-Tennyson, who was nominated by her peers within the organization. “[It] makes one very proud of what you have done with your career.”

GOLFWEEK

Three local golf courses were listed among Golfweek magazine’s 2016 rankings of the “Best Courses You Can Play in South Carolina.”  Sea Pines Resort’s Harbour Town Golf Links, which hosts the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, was listed No. 2 in the state, behind the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort.