My Dear Friends,
I am pleased to invite you to participate in the 3rd Annual George Archer Stroke of Genius Pro-Am Tournament to be held November 1, 2010 at The Peninsula Golf and Country Club in San Mateo, California.
George Archer began his golf career at the Peninsula Golf and Country Club as a junior caddy and learned to play golf in caddy tournaments. There, under the watchful eyes of Head Professional Bud Ward, and some wonderful club members, he was nurtured, cared for, and appreciated. George told me many, many times that his association with this superb Donald Ross golf course, saved his life as he struggled “to find a place,” while hiding a problem that was little understood at the time.
George had a painful secret, and it affected him for his entire life. He could not read or write beyond the third grade level. In the climate of his time, the problem was rarely voiced, and he had few with whom he could discuss the fact that he was functionally illiterate.
For 45 years, our daughters, Elizabeth and Marilyn, and I kept his secret and covered for him as we searched for ways to solve his problem. Countless attempts with tutors and learning programs were tried but none were effective for George, and when he died on September 25, 2005, he was still unable to read very well.
George made it clear before he died, that we should ultimately share the fact of illiteracy with the public, believing that the revelation might help and inspire others. His life demonstrated that an individual can succeed at the highest level without overcoming a handicap, but rather, in spite of it. George’s 40 years on the PGA Tour and his 46 wins around the world would confirm this fact.
Thanks to the generosity of people like you, we have been remarkably successful in our first two years. We have generated over $100,000 to promote literacy efforts and have developed close relationships with the exceptional literacy programs of both the San Mateo Library and the Charles Armstrong School.
The San Mateo library serves all of San Mateo County with a widely diverse breadth and depth of literacy programs. The Charles Armstrong School in Belmont, California is recognized as one of our country's premier schools for the learning disabled.
Additionally, proceeds from our tournament also have been used to provide tutors for children at the Reading Clinic in San Mateo, California and for a child at the Chartwell School in Monterey, California.
Our goal is to expand our reach and stretch the wings of support so that we can help to tutor as many children as possible. Each one of you is helping us to do this. And, it is working. Because of our wonderful committee, and the commitment of those of you who help in so many ways, the pain that George experienced will not be repeated in a child simply because it is difficult for him or her to understand the principles of reading and writing.
The Honorary Chairmen for our Stroke of Genius Pro-Am are Dave Stockton and Jim Langley. Both of these wonderful men were close to George and are dear and longtime friends of our family. We even started on the PGA Tour together. All of us appreciate your generous support as we continue with our efforts in this very important project. Our daughters and I believe that George would be ecstatic to know that the revelation of his illiteracy would lead challenged youngsters to the wonderful and magical world of reading and writing.
Donna Archer