Inside the SCGA’s efforts to bring the greater golf community together and help in the healing of Southern California

“Unprecedented events call for unprecedented action.”

— SCGA Executive Director Jeff Ninnemann, when it was announced earlier this year that the Association would be matching up to $250,000 in wildfire relief donations, a first-of-its-kind campaign in response to a disaster the likes of which Southern California has never seen.

WILDFIRES

• Wildfire Timeline: Jan. 7 to Jan. 31

• Number of Wildfires: 14

• Most Prominent: Eaton Fire, Palisades Fire

• Total Evacuations: 200,000+

• Acres Burned: 57,600+

• Structures Damaged: 18,000+

SHARED TRAUMA

JAN. 7, 2025, and the days following will forever be etched deep in the souls of this region and its residents. The helplessness and terror we felt as we watched entire neighborhoods ceaselessly burn on live television — fueled by historically violent winds combusting with a historically dry winter — was a shared trauma experience that will never be forgotten. And even though we are now months removed from those incredibly harrowing moments, the victims are still reeling and in desperate need of help.

Given the toll of the devastation and how widespread the events were, most of us know someone (or know of someone) who suffered. The stories of loss were so common and so overwhelming that our collective capacity to empathize stretched to new limits only brought on and realized by immense tragedy. 

But it’s in these times when the innate compassion of the human spirit truly shines. We’ve already seen it as droves and droves of Southlanders donated their time and resources in the immediate aftermath of the fires. And the SCGA was truly inspired by the surrounding community to find its own specific way to contribute to the recovery.

CAMPAIGN WITH CONVICTIONS

Well-intentioned ideas on how the SCGA might join the relief efforts were bandied about the building and carefully considered by an appropriate team of decision makers.

Ultimately, the Association felt inclined to pursue a very purposeful fundraising campaign that would entice others to join while seeking to unify the response of the collective golf community.

When the campaign was launched on Jan. 29, the SCGA publicly committed to matching wildfire relief donations, dollar for dollar, up to $250,000. To handle the logistical operations of safely and securely accepting contributions and ultimately distributing them across general relief efforts, the Association tapped the venerable California CommunityFoundation (CCF), which has more than a century of philanthropic service inside theGolden State. 

One concerted aim of the campaign was (and still is) to create a centralized hub where thegolf community could band together and amplify its collective response to the public.

Leveraging its vast network and position inside the space, the SCGA actively recruitedindustry partners, golf course facilities and member clubs to join in the efforts — all ofwhich had their donations matched dollar-for-dollar by the Association.

There might be a cynic who will question if a golf association should be operating and organizing in a fundraising capacity as it relates to a disaster. The leadership at the SCGA has been clear on its convictions. “We can help and so we should help,” is what SCGA President Zack Moran plainly said regarding this campaign. Moran lost his Bay Area home to a fire when he was six years old and can relate to the upheaval that causes. 

Meanwhile, in a meeting with the entire staff of the Association and its Junior GolfFoundation, SCGA Executive Director Jeff Ninnemann reminded his team that, “The first two letters of SCGA stand for Southern California. That’s who we are, who we serve and who we’re going to help right now.”

HELP FROM ALL OVER

The response to the campaign has been inspiring and extensive. Worldwide Golf (owners and operators of Roger Dunn Golf Shops and The Golf Mart) brought together manufacturers including Cleveland Golf, PING, Srixon, TaylorMade and Titleist to make a collective generous donation. So too did the SCPGA and the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance. Trilogy GC at La Quinta donated $1 from every paid tee time in March to the SCGA’s campaign — an amount that will be doubled through the matching component. 

Elsewhere, the John and Sarah Kobara Family Foundation donated $10,000, while theSCGA’s information technology contractor, Modern IT, pitched in $5,000. Those donationshave also been matched by the Association.

Members and Member Clubs of the SCGA have also been involved. As of Mar. 24, BirchHills Men’s Club, Birch Hill’s Women’s Club, Gammas and Compas GC, Oso Creek SeniorMen’s GC, Rio Hondo Men’s Club, Lakewood Men’s Club and Penmar Social Club all contributed to wildfire relief. The Eaton Canyon Golf Club — which plays just four miles away from Altadena GC — raised $1,100 for the campaign through a recent hole-in-one contest.

Chris Hovsepian, an SCGA member through Woodley Lakes GC and founder of Jain Golf, partnered with Topgolf and Malbon to use his annual “Camp Jain” event to raise nearly$14,000 for the First Tee families impacted by the fires.

Another SCGA member, Ryan Engle, raised $1,500 through his apparel company, Nation Golf, after collecting donations at a party he threw in his San Clemente warehouse in lateJanuary. “My wife is from Lahaina, and we just went through something similarly devastating a few summers ago with the Maui wildfire,” Engle said. “We were honored to tap into our community to help then, and we’re honored again to help now.” 

IMPACT ON GOLF

Given that the January wildfires burned nearly 60,000 acres, it might seem rather remarkable how little damage golf courses across the region endured. It should be known now, if it wasn’t before, that golf courses are less likely to burn down in wildfire events because the turf grass is short, tight and well-watered, making it far less flammable than other vegetation. Also, wide fairways make it more difficult for flames to spread.

Even so, there was a real-time collective concern for the fate of the The Riviera CC — an iconic Southern California golf cathedral that is slated to welcome the Summer Olympics in 2028.

While The Riviera CC was spared, its surroundings were not. The Pacific Palisades neighborhood of West Los Angeles was decimated, and the PGA Tour made the correct decision to move February’s Genesis Invitational to Torrey Pines GC. Attendees at the displaced event were presented with QR codes all over the grounds in La Jolla to make donations to the relief efforts for their neighbors to the north in Los Angeles. Back in the Palisades, The Riviera CC donated $1 million, also to the CCF, the same week as the tournament.

ALTADENA GC HAS BECOME A TOXIC WASTE COLLECTION SITE FOR THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. IT’S REOPENING IS NOT YET SCHEDULED BUT PROMISED BY AUTHORITIES.

Altadena GC, which opened in 1910 and hosted 45,000 rounds of golf in 2024, lost its clubhouse in the Eaton Fire. While the golf course itself was largely undamaged, many of the homes surrounding it are gone. It’s a surreal scene: acres of green grass abutting neighborhoods that have been reduced to standing chimneys and rubble.

Owned by Los Angeles County, the golf course has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act as a temporary staging area for hazardous waste resulting from the fire. As of right now, there is no date for the golf course to reopen. Tom Bugbee, COO of Altadena GC’s operating company, CourseCO, Inc., told Golf Digest in February, “We haven’t been told a timeline other than it’s temporary. It will be are turn to a golf course and eventually a new clubhouse and cart barn and maintenance facility.”

CourseCo Inc. also operates nearby Eaton Canyon GC, which has fully reopened and offers the usual Altadena GC golfers a place to play in the interim.

FORWARD MOMENTUM

Despite all the confusion that a widespread tragedy like this can bring, a few important things are very clear. This is a generous and philanthropic region with no shortage of love and loyalty for its own. And it’s that unwavering love and loyalty that serves as a reminder that Southern California must remain committed to the full recovery and rebuild of Palisades and Altadena. That’s why the SCGA hasn’t put a timeline or end goal on their fundraising campaign. And it’s also why they’re inviting you and everyone you know to join the cause.