On Tuesday, July 22, TruGreen, the nation’s leading lawn care company and official lawn care provider of the PGA Tour, partnered with First Tee, a youth golf charity, to launch the #TruGreenHappyDrive challenge at TPC Sawgrass.
Inspired by the movie “Happy Gilmore 2,” which will come out on Netflix on Friday, July 25, the challenge invited golfers of all skill levels to record and post their own “Happy” swing using the hashtag #TruGreenHappyDrive. For every swing posted on social media, TruGreen donated $1 to First Tee.
Doug Terfehr, head of integrated marketing at TruGreen, kicked off the event with a surprise announcement that, to get things started, TruGreen had donated $250,000 to First Tee. Terfehr said he believed this challenge would be the beginning of a nationwide movement of “Happy” drives across the country and he encouraged everyone to follow along on social media using the hashtag #TruGreenHappyDrive.
First Tee began in 1997 to make golf more accessible to young people. Nick Piechowski, senior director of corporate partner relations at First Tee, spoke about the organization’s core beliefs and said that golf is a great avenue to help kids learn how to work through important life lessons.
“At First Tee we believe that golf is so much more than a game,” he said. “Inherent in golf are life skills and values that can impact young people.”
TruGreen has partnered with First Tee since 2021 to aid them in continuing to empower 3.1 million kids across the country in their 150 chapters.
Piechowski said that the money raised from the “Happy Drive” challenge would go directly to support First Tee programs as participants are challenged to donate to their local First Tee chapter. He also spoke directly to how First Tee goes about their mission.
“It’s through the integration of First Tee’s life skills curriculum with the game led by trained First Tee coaches that we are able to bring those values to life in a powerful way,” he said.
For more information on First Tee’s local chapter, go to firsttee.org and don’t forget to follow along with the “Happy Drive” challenge on social media using the hashtag #TruGreenHappyDrive.
