Team Salt Strong Wins 2nd Consecutive Year at 8th Annual Heart for Winter Haven Golf Tournament
by James Coulter
For the second consecutive year, Salt Strong won first place at the annual Heart for Winter Haven Golf Tournament.
Joel Norris loves attending the annual fundraiser to hit the links and enjoy a great lunch afterward. What they love most of all, and what keeps them coming back time and again, is the overall cause for Hearts For Winter Haven [H4WH].
“It feels good,” he said of winning. “We like them [H4WH] keeping kids off the streets as far as homelessness, and all the great work they do for the city and the county. Wonderful as always. You can’t ask for a better environment.”
Several dozen teams participated in this year’s event, the eighth annual for H4WH. The fundraiser was hosted on Monday at the Winter Haven Country Club.
The event started earlier than morning around 9 AM and concluded that afternoon with a lunch, raffle giveaway, and award ceremony at the country club.
“It was a great day,” said Executive Director Brad Beatty. “We had great sponsorship and players. Everybody had a great time raising money. We had an excellent turnout. We capped it. We had a total number of teams we wanted, and had a full field today.”
Proceeds go toward accomplishing the H4WH mission of eliminating childhood poverty and homelessness in Winter Haven. Through its programs and initiatives, H4WH hopes to eliminate childhood homelessness by 2030.
H4WH will be hosting its annual fundraiser banquet this October, where its member will be sharing its message and mission. In the meantime, they are planning for next year’s golf tournament and hope to continue entertaining people with it for many more years to come.
“I think we really put on a good event for the players, and they enjoy it, and it is a good time of year [and] a great course,” Beatty said. “We always have good food and good experience. And they say every year it is another favorite event. We keep trying to do that over and over.”
