MALONE — A local golf club received a donation of $105,000 last weekend to go toward equipment upgrades and course improvements.
The Malone Golf Future Foundation is dedicated to fostering the growth and accessibility of the game of golf by supporting community-based programs, promoting youth participation, and advancing the development of the sport in the Malone Golf Community, according to Dan Honahan, the foundation’s president.
Honahan said the recent donation was made to the Malone Golf Club by the Malone Golf Future Foundation, which started about a year-and-a-half ago, adding he had hoped to start this type of group for the past several years.
“It’s been a thought of mine for about eight years, I’m a past president of the Malone Golf Club, I grew up across from the second hole and we all love the place and it’s been going since 1903,” Honahan said, adding the foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit.
Honahan said he was prompted to move forward with the future foundation after the Malone Golf Club started to see a decline in Canadian golfers traveling to the course.
“The loss of Canadian business, we lost over $350,000 worth of business coming down because Canadians haven’t been coming down over the last couple of years. The time was right,” he said, “The whole golf community is trying to help us prosper.”
According to Honahan, the donated funds were a portion of funding, a total of over $135,000, that was raised by the foundation from donors prior to the foundation’s first tournament on Saturday, May 23.
“We had 19 teams of four and raised about $4,000,” he said, adding the donation to Malone Golf Club from the future foundation was announced at last weekend’s tournament.
Located off of County Route 25, the Malone Golf Club offers 36 holes of golf across two different courses.