Rory McIlroy Presents $1 Million Check to Create More Access to Golf for Kids

September 01, 2021

There were nothing but smiles seen among the local Youth on Course members as Youth on Course CEO Adam Heieck was presented with a $1 million check by Rory McIlory on Tuesday afternoon at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga., site of this week’s PGA TOUR Championship.

The contribution marked a major milestone in the nine months since NBC Sports Next and Youth on Course announced a major partnership with the goal of helping to ensure the vitality of golf for kids across the U.S. by using technology to create more affordable and equal access to the sport.

“Thank you to the millions of GolfNow customers who rounded up in support of helping Youth on Course achieve its core purpose of providing youth with access to opportunities through golf,” Heieck said. “The contribution allows us to fund 150,000 rounds of golf for young people and we are proud to be partners with NBC Sports Next.”

Through the innovative technology of GolfNow and unmatched content provided by GolfPass, the $1 million resulted from generous GolfNow golfers who elected to help expand Youth on Course’s national footprint when booking a round of golf. McIlroy is co-founder of GolfPass.

A key element of the partnership includes the GolfNow “Round-Up” campaign, which offers anyone booking a tee time online via GolfNow or the GolfNow app to round up the total cost of the reservation to an even-dollar figure.

Since the “Round-Up” campaign began just nine months ago, there has been nearly 3 million contributions, generating $1 million raised from an average contribution of $0.36.

“We are extremely excited about how quickly the community of GolfNow and GolfPass members have embraced the idea of micro donations to help drive such an important cause, which is demonstrably getting more young people involved in golf at a time to create lifelong engagement,” said NBC Sports Executive Vice President Will McIntosh. “Youth on Course is truly growing the game and we are excited to partner with them and Rory McIlroy to accelerate their efforts.”

Other key elements of the NBC Sports Next-Youth on Course partnership have included:

• Development by GolfNow of a custom Youth on Course booking engine, providing Youth on Course members to book their rounds of golf through the Youth on course app.
• Complimentary GolfPass video subscription for all Youth on Course members, giving more than 120,000 young people access to hundreds of hours of high-quality instruction and entertainment programming on demand.
• Two scholarship awards – GolfNow Scholar and GolfPass Scholar – each valued at $20,000 and awarded to Youth on Course members who are rising college freshmen.