The CSGA recently awarded ten scholarships to employees at Connecticut golf clubs. The scholarships are given in honor of its long-time Executive Director William “Widdy” Neale. The program recognizes graduating high school seniors who work at CSGA member golf clubs in positions serving the golf program and/or serving golfers and who are enrolling in four-year colleges and universities. Recipients are selected on the basis of financial need, scholarship, school and community service, and good character. The Fund is supported primarily by a major financial commitment from the CSGA. Other significant contributors include the Bob Pryde Endowment administered by The Community Foundation for New Haven, the Connecticut State Seniors Golf Association, the Senior Golfers of Connecticut, and the New England Senior Golfers’ Association. Increasingly important are the contributions of individual golfers through the CSGA donors recognition program. Since 1954, the program has awarded over $2.5 million in scholarship aid to 525 graduating high school seniors. Unlike many other scholarship programs, the CSGA scholarships are four-year awards.
CSGA Scholarship Fund Chairman Richard Zanini stated that this year’s recipients are all outstanding young people with excellent academic records who have been leaders in their schools and who have completed extensive community service. He stated that their fields of interest for college study are diverse and include engineering, architecture, business administration, marketing, accounting, psychology, political science, and pre-law. Dr. Zanini indicated that the scholarship awards generally range from $1,000 to $3,000 and may be renewed for up to three years.
This year’s recipients are:
| John Ayers | Old Saybrook | Central Connecticut State | Fox Hopyard GC |
| Victoria Fagan | Kensington | Long Island University | Timberlin GC |
| Michael Ford | Cheshire | Campbell University | New Haven CC |
| Corrin Gosselin | Simsbury | University of Connecticut | Simsbury Farms GC |
| Matthew Hanrahan | Danbury | Catholic University | Richter Park GC |
| Michael Johnson | South Glastonbury | Fairfield University | Black Hall Club |
| Kelsey Kirkpatrick | Hebron | Assumption College | Tallwood CC |
| Brooke Nethercott | Greenwich | University of Hartford | Milbrook Club |
| Julie Orenstein | West Hartford | Boston College | Wampanoag CC |
| Dylan Rupp | Suffield | Furman University | Suffield CC |
Forty-nine Widdy Neale scholarship recipients currently attend colleges as diverse as Assumption, Boston College, Connecticut College, LIU, Penn State, College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Catholic University of America, Dickinson, Fairfield, Providence, Bentley, Bryant, Holy Cross, Wheaton, Northeastern, St. Johns, George Washington, James Madison, Susquehanna, Cornell, St. Bonaventure, Wake Forest, Tufts, Tulane, William and Mary, and the Universities of Massachusetts, Arizona, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Connecticut.
