FORE Magazine

Top Menu

  • About Me
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Home

Main Menu

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

FORE Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
ProfilesSCGA JuniorSummer 2017
Home›Profiles›Getting Connected: Suzanne Kelley Gives Back Through SCGA Junior

Getting Connected: Suzanne Kelley Gives Back Through SCGA Junior

By Julia Pine
July 26, 2017
5977
0
Share:

Golf provides community. A place to go. People to spend time with. It’s for that reason that when Suzanne Kelley moved back to Southern California after 16 years in New York one of the first things she did was get involved with the golf community here in Los Angeles.

Kelley’s return to Los Angeles reconnected her with Brian Good, an SCGA Junior board member whom she knew from her time working in the real estate industry. He connected Kelley with SCGA Junior and the rest is history. Her passions matched up with the missions and goals of the organization, and today Kelley herself sits on the SCGA Junior Board as well as the organization’s scholarship committee.

“I was recently retired and was looking to give back to golf,” Kelley said. “What SCGA Junior was doing was really intriguing to me. Having just come back to California, it was a great way to jump back in with two feet. It connected me to golf and giving back, two things I was looking for.”

She had first gotten involved with the game in her mid-20s. It’s not a typical activity for a young female professional, but there was a trigger for Kelley: someone told her she couldn’t do it.

“That made me want to,” said Kelley, whose tenacious attitude helped her succeed on the golf course and in the business world for years. “A former boyfriend was playing at Los Verdes with some friends, and I came along and just sat in the cart. Afterwards, I said I wanted to learn. He told me I wouldn’t be good at it.”

She would prove him wrong. Kelley, now a 10.2 Handicap, has been hooked on the game ever since. The game, though, would serve her well outside of being just a recreational pursuit. In New York, working in the world of Wall Street, it became key to her success in business as well.

Kelley with SCGA Junior Scholar Alyaa Abdulghany after a round of golf at Lakeside GC.

“The opportunities I’ve had in business through golf are endless,” said Kelley, who worked for a real estate private equity fund before moving to two different hedge funds. “I realized that I didn’t want to be excluded from something just because I didn’t play golf.”

In fact, it was a business opportunity that got her on the course with a certain golfing president.

“In 2002 I played a round with Donald Trump,” said Kelley, who was working a business deal at a property Trump was purchasing. “I remember three things very clearly, he likes to play fast, he is a very good golfer and he likes to win.”

Kelley is no stranger to teeing it up with strong personalities. In fact, for years now she has been the only female participant in an annual match put on by the Union League Club of New York.

“This year was my seventh time participating,” said Kelley. “At first they said I couldn’t play because I was a woman, and to this day I’m still the only female in the field. In my opinion, the game transcends gender, age and ability. That’s one of the reasons I was so attracted to it.”The things she treasures most about golf are also things she’s able to pass down to the kids in SCGA Junior. Just recently she played a round with two SCGA Junior scholars, and she bonded with one over their mutual lack of height.

“My small size is a liability in every other sport except golf,” Kelley shared with the 17 year old.

The ability to get to know these young adults through the Scholarship program has been one of Kelley’s most rewarding aspects of working with SCGA Junior.

“Seeing kids’ lives changed by the game of golf, and then being able to help them continue down that path through the scholarships we provide, it’s extremely rewarding.”

Kelley especially loves getting to see them in action on the golf course.

“The poise is remarkable,” said Kelley. “The way they handle bad shots out there really shows how they deal with disappointment and adversity. The game makes them better kids, and I’m happy to be part of that.”

Previous Article

Up North and Unmatched: The Many Charms ...

Next Article

The Almighty Burger: Sure, everyone claims theirs ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
mm

Julia Pine

Since joining the SCGA in early 2011, Julia has worked to enhance members experiences on scga.org with fresh content, in-depth coverage of tournaments, videos, member engagement opportunities and more. She is the editor of the SCGA's FORE magazine and plusFORE digital magazine and handles the Association's growing social media program and media relations. Julia is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and grew up in Berkeley, Calif. For her, sports is not just a career, but a passion.

Related articles More from author

  • More for Gore- Jason Gore
    Profiles

    More For Gore: A Re-energized Jason Gore Makes his Way Back to the PGA TOUR

    January 1, 2015
    By Bob Buttitta
  • Fall 2020Profiles

    Strong Game: Haley Moore

    October 28, 2020
    By Robert Earle Howells
  • Profiles

    A Leader Emerges: How Lilia Vu Became UCLA’s Newest Star

    June 7, 2017
    By Mike James
  • FORE HerProfiles

    The Interview: Lorena Ochoa

    December 23, 2016
    By Mary Goodwin
  • 19th HoleProfiles

    ANA in the DNA for Rancho Mirage Restaurateur Miho Suma

    January 26, 2017
    By Judd Spicer
  • SCGA Dwight Freeney
    Profiles

    Charging Towards Success: Dwight Freeney’s Big Golf Dreams

    October 1, 2014
    By Tod Leonard

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • Fall 2022FeaturedTravel

    A Beautiful Wildness: Golf in Hawaii is as Good as it Gets

  • 19th HoleFall 2022Featured

    Feast for the Senses: Fairmont Grand Del Mar Clubhouse Grill

  • Fall 2022FeaturedTravel

    The Greens of Utah’s Color Country: Great Golf Leads the Charge in Historic, Fast-Growing St. George

  • At The TurnFall 2022Featured

    A Homebase for Generations: A Century of Character (and Characters!) at Meadowlark GC

  • Fall 2022FeaturedThe Podium

    The Single Life: The Simple Pleasures of Being “That Guy”

Fall 2022FeaturedHandicap Hints

Handicap Allowances

There is often anticipation in the air as the date for the next handicap competition at a club approaches. Participants want to know what handicap value will be used in ...
  • The Single Life: The Simple Pleasures of Being “That Guy”

    By John DeGomez
    October 25, 2022
  • Cut! Rulings Hollywood Got Wrong

    By Jeff Ninnemann
    October 25, 2022
  • From Crisis to Confidence: The Southern California Golf & Water Summit

    By Craig Kessler
    October 25, 2022
  • Direct to Golf Consumer: How Social Media is Changing the Way We Buy Equipment

    By Scott Kramer
    October 25, 2022
© 2016 FORE Magazine About Us | Contact Us | Advertise