2017 Peggy Kirk Bell Winner

Rafe Cochran named 2017 Peggy Kirk Bell Award Winner

PINEHURST, NC – Even though the great local golf icon Peggy Kirk Bell passed away in November, there is little doubt that she would embrace the giving and philanthropy of the 2017 winner, 12-year-old Rafe Cochran of Palm Beach, Florida.  The rising 7^th grader at Palm Beach Day School is this year’s winner of the U.S. Kids Golf-sponsored Peggy Kirk Bell Award, in large part because he was moved by an overwhelming need of poor Haitian and Jamaican families and acted in his own special way to try and make things better for them.

That is big stuff for a young man, says Delane Bailey-Herd, Senior Field Representative for FOOD FOR THE POOR, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation.  Bailey-Herd nominated Rafe and said she had “had the opportunity to see the needs as well as the power of transformation through the efforts of remarkable individuals such as Rafe.”

“Rafe finds time for humanitarianism and incorporates this in his daily life to help empower the poor, and specifically poor students,” said Bailey-Herd. “He started using his talents at age nine to help families and children in need and raised enough money to build three homes in Haiti.  Through his continuing efforts, he has raised more than $100,000 to build an additional six double-unit homes in Haiti for desperately poor and homeless families through the Rafe Cochran Golf Classic in partnership with our organization. 

“He has also funded the construction of a school in Jamaica for disadvantaged students, providing them an educational environment conducive for learning. He wants to help break their cycle of poverty and prepare them for the future.”

Dan Van Horn saluted Cochran with this statement.

“Peggy Kirk Bell has been an inspiration to young golfers for many years,” stated Dan Van Horn, Founder and President for U.S. Kids Golf.  “We could not have chosen a better representative for this award than Rafe Cochran. U.S. Kids Golf proudly recognizes young golfers for their exemplary service to their community and world. This young man embodies Peggy Kirk Bell’s heartwarming character, philanthropic spirit, and passion for the game of golf. We congratulate Rafe for receiving this year’s award.”

Rafe learned about the Peggy Kirk Bell Award from attending the U.S. World Championship several years ago.  His incentive to apply was to show that you’re never too young to make a difference and appreciates that it brings awareness to kids doing positive things for others.

Rafe began preparing for his future at age six, by taking golf lessons in Palm Beach, where he lives with his parents Diahann and Jay.  He says he was ‘hooked’ on golf.

“I really am self-motivated when it comes to golf.  No one is telling me to play or practice; I just love it!” Rafe acknowledged. “My coach, Bobby Collins, has been a big influence with me, teaching me all aspects of the game, mental and physical, and the importance of sportsmanship, competition and of course, technique.”

Apparently, he is also self-motivated when it comes to helping families and children in Haiti and Jamaica, having made a donation sheet for the U.S. Kids Golf events that he played in, asking for a certain amount for pars, birdies, eagles and a hole in one.  The first three Haitian homes were built with the $18,000 he raised in his inaugural fundraising attempt.

He feels that education is the key to ending poverty and achieving success and knows that the Jamaican school will give them a solid start to gaining their goals. 

“I will 100% stick to working with Food For The Poor on projects I am passionate about,” said the honor student.  “I hope my annual golf charity event will grow bigger and bigger each year in order to provide funding to help people less fortunate around the world. I plan to continue to raise more money.”

His plans include studying hard in order to get into a top university, such as Stanford, and hopefully play on their golf team.  He sees himself with a future career in golf.  Ironically, it was difficult for him to put together his dream foursome, but for various reasons, it was a generationally-interesting group: Jack Nicklaus, for greatness and wisdom; Jordan Spieth for being such a positive role model; and his golf coach Collins because he would like to share the day with him for being a fun, talented golfer in his own right.

For such a golf-involved young man, he points out that neither parent of this only child plays golf. He does come from a close, caring and supportive family whose relatives are sports-minded.  His father is a professional racecar driver, his aunt is a two-time world champion windsurfer, and a cousin is on the US Junior Olympic snowboarding team.  A great-grandfather is a former number one world polo player and has been inducted into the Polo Hall of Fame.

Rafe prefers surfing, fishing, tennis and art when he’s not playing golf, but he does practice golf every day. 

“The best part of my game in my short game, putting and chipping,” he pointed out. “The part that I would like to improve is my length. However, that will improve with my growth and size.”

Bailey-Herd, his friend at FOOD FOR THE POOR, puts his growth and size in another context.

“He is a hope-giver who is positioned to become a world-changer, one community at a time as evidenced by his efforts thus far,” she said. “Rafe impresses me with his dedication and commitment to bringing continued hope and relief to those economically depressed and discarded.  He will continue to provide opportunities where none exists.”

 About the Peggy Kirk Bell Award

Peggy Kirk Bell is widely considered to be one of the founders and catalysts of women’s golf in America. Peggy played professionally and won the Titleholder’s Championship in 1949. She is best known for her dedication to teaching the game of golf to women, and in 2002, she became the first woman inducted into the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame. Ms. Bell resided in Pinehurst, North Carolina, where she could be found on most days at the Pine Needles Resort, which is affectionately known as the “Home of Women’s Golf.”

Peggy Kirk Bell was a pioneer, a champion and an icon. But more importantly, she was our friend. We honor her passing this past November with a renewed passion and commitment to celebrate great players on the golf course and even more, great citizens within our communities. And in that spirit, we will continue honor her memory and contributions in perpetuity with this award in the years to follow.

Since 2007, the Peggy Kirk Bell Award has been presented to one young golfer that has demonstrated outstanding philanthropy and inspiration through their efforts on and off the golf course. Past winners have varied from our first recipient, Kyle Lagrasso, who at age 5 competed in the World Championship despite battling a rare form of cancer known as retinoblastoma (and losing an eye to it at age 2) – to last year’s honoree, Avery Zweig, who galvanized an entire army of young golfers to raise money for individuals battling life-threatening illnesses.

About U.S. Kids Golf

U.S. Kids Golf, LLC is based in Atlanta and manufactures equipment and related golf products designed for kids. It was created in 1997 when Founder/CEO Dan Van Horn found that his children were losing their interest in golf due to not having the proper equipment.

In addition to more than 4,000 golf shops and retail locations in the United States, the company's products also are available in over 75 countries worldwide.

The U.S. Kids Golf Foundation, a Georgia non-profit recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity, was created in 2001 and provides services that include competition and instruction. The Foundation organizes more than 1,200 golf tournaments for kids each year with over 15,000 individual players ages 5-18. 

These tournaments include Local Tours in over 60 cities worldwide, nine U.S.–based Regional Championships, seven international multi-day tournaments which includes the prestigious European Championship, and the pinnacle events held each year in Pinehurst, North Carolina, the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship and Teen World Championship.

The vision of the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation is to provide kids and their families the opportunity to participate in the game of golf through instruction and competition.  They believe that family interaction is critical in the development of young golfers and encourage parents to serve as caddies for their kids during tournaments and to develop positive coaching techniques.

Previous Peggy Kirk Bell Award Winners:

2016, Avery Zweig
2015, Megan Ikeda
2014, Johnny Wright
2013, Ethan Davidson
2012, Grace Chen
2011, Taylor Black
2010, Wilson Furr
2009, Erica Jackson
2008, Harris Armstrong
2007, Kyle Lagrasso

2017 Honorable Mention Candidates:

Emree Cameron
Lesego Cruz
Jaden Dumdumaya
Natalie Kostalnick
Evan Koutsopetras
Sophia Macias
Haden Mathis
Victoria Matthews
Tommy Morrissey
Owen O'Keefe
Jayda Sidney
Archie Qualtrough