Spearheaded by World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els, the 2022 Golf Challenge consists of a series of regional events at top-rated golf courses across the US and Canada from April through October.

Please click here for full schedule

A team’s fundraising ability is valued just as much as their performance on the golf course. Indeed, teams or sponsors who raise $15,000 or more during the 2022 Golf Challenge regional event series will enjoy a two-day extravaganza of golf and entertainment at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas and a round of golf at the spectacular Ernie Els-designed Albany in the Bahamas (pictured above).

The finalist package includes:

·      Access to the Grand Finale for a two golfing guests and two non-golfing guests

·      Entry into the Grand Finale golf tournament for each golfing guests

·      Invitation to the Welcome Reception for all guests

·      Invitation to the Gala Celebration & Awards Ceremony for all guests

·      Two nights’ accommodation (based on double occupancy)

·      Luxury gift bag for each golfing guests

Teams who raise $30,000 or more during the 2022 Golf Challenge regional event series will be upgraded to ‘VIP Golden Circle’ status qualifying them for a range of unique privileges including an extra night of hotel accommodation.

Funds raised through Golf Challenge team fundraising benefit the Els for Autism Foundation, which is committed to better understanding the aspirations of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and helping them to fulfill their potential to lead positive, productive and rewarding lives.

To donate or register by check:
Make check payable to ‘Els for Autism’
Els for Autism
Attn: Golf Challenge Accounting
18370 Limestone Creek Road
Jupiter, FL 33458

For more information, visit the website: www.e4agolf.com.

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Latest news from The Ernie Els Centre for Autism in SA, providing lower resourced families of children on the autism spectrum with free access to effective education for their child via e-learning programs.

1. Measuring success of the Ernie Els #GameOn Autism Golf Programme
The Ernie Els #GameOn Autism Golf Programme is comprised of 12 golf lessons, for young people (aged 8-18) on the autism spectrum. It aims to develop life skills, encourage social interaction and promote a healthy lifestyle, through golf. Each session is designed to build confidence and self-esteem, in a fun, welcoming, supportive environment, encouraging participants to learn golf skills, while practising specific autism learning concepts.

Els for Autism, South Africa is collaborating with four sites across the globe, including the UK, US, and Ireland, in our delivery of a multi-site group project that takes place from September to November 2021. This international group project seeks to measure the success of the Ernie Els #GameOn Autism Golf Programme, providing a global evidence base to support enhanced provision of Health Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) for young people on the autism spectrum.

To learn more about this program please visit: https://www.elsforautism.org/get-involved/resource-center-ernie-els-gameon-autism-tm-golf/.

2. Empowering parents with a new group telehealth coaching project
Over the past few years, Els for Autism South Africa has been offering parent-focused intervention. And since 2019 the team has added a shorter-term parent coaching service, using the RUBI Autism Network manual as a guide. This parent training manual was developed by Karen Bearrs and colleagues.

For over a decade, The RUBI Autism Network has developed and tested a structured parent training (PT) manual for children with ASD and disruptive behaviours. The RUBI parent manual consists of several core sessions, which include functional approaches to managing challenging behaviour, as well as having a focus on teaching appropriate alternative skills utilising evidence-based practice teaching tools. In South Africa, we have incorporated an ‘Autism 101’ power point presentation, as an introductory session, to ensure all families are equipped with the foundational knowledge regarding the autism spectrum.

Participants are expected to commit to each session and provide feedback on strategies practised at home with their child. Strategies will then be altered to better suit the style of learning for the child.

“The goal of this resource is to impart effective behavioural techniques for reducing disruptive behaviour in children with ASD and to promote acquisition of daily living skills,” commented Shani Lits, Program Director at Els For Autism South Africa.

This approach is so valuable, given that 25%-53% of children with ASD display clinically significant externalizing, disruptive, or aggressive behaviour (Edwards et al. 2019). Moreover, behaviours that are challenging can interfere with language, communication, social skills, and hinder the ability to learn adaptive behaviours required for daily living (Edwards et al. 2019). Therefore, this approach of focusing on both decreasing disruptive behaviours while simultaneously working on functional replacement skills is a powerful and effective tool for families.

Why parent training?
Parents or caregivers are the powerhouse and the agent of change! Thus, parent training allows to tap into this knowledgeable powerhouse (after all, who knows more about their child then the parent or caregiver?) by incorporating both education and training to parents to assist in better managing their child’s behaviour in a familiar and supportive environment. Parent training has been proven to reduce disruptive behaviour and set the stage for improved adaptive functioning; and can be delivered across a variety of settings.

We are thrilled to be a part of an upcoming research project, undertaken by multiple organizations spanning three countries (South Africa, USA and Canada). This research project is being carried out for the first time in South Africa, where RUBI support will be offered in a group context, and via telehealth. We are eager to get feedback from our participants to see how we can change the project to better suit our context.

Why group and telehealth?
Group-based parent training is a low-cost service alternative, serving multiple clients at once. It also has the added benefit of providing social support for the participating parents. Telehealth allows for more access for clients and provides more flexibility for the family that has a child with ASD. Together, offering parent coaching in a group context, via telehealth, offers parents or caregivers the opportunity to learn the necessary skills to reduce challenging behaviour, and thus they will be more likely prepared for possible future challenges. This in turn will empower parents to feel more confident about managing their child’s behaviour.

Els for Autism South Africa is excited to be part of this team and we are looking forward to being able to offer the RUBI parent-group training telehealth project in the future, to service more families. We look forward to providing you with feedback on this incredible research in the upcoming weeks.

3. New teacher training sessions from Els for Autism South Africa
We are now offering an introductory training for teachers and professionals in a school context. In recent years, Els for Autism South Africa has found that this, coupled with the identification of a gap in teacher support, has helped us to welcome the opportunity to offer a teacher support service.

The goal of this teacher empowerment training is to provide relevant teachers, support staff, and school management with general guidelines, using evidence-based practices, on how to manage challenging behaviours in the classroom. Together we work through the A’s, B’s, and C’s of behaviour, that is the Antecedent (what is the trigger), Behaviour (how to identify and define a behaviour) and Consequence (what happens after a behaviour).

We aim to guide the staff in identifying the function of the behaviour (why does the behaviour happen), and how to use a more functional behaviour approach, that could be helpful in the classroom to identify suitable prevention and consequence-based strategies. We use classroom examples and give practical recommendations to better equip teachers with tools to manage a variety of challenging behaviours.

“Given South Africa’s current Covid-19 regulations, we have only been able to offer this service via an online platform, Zoom,” explained Shani Lits, Program Director at Els For Autism South Africa. “We have had the privilege to offer this service to a handful of schools this year. The teacher empowerment programme is currently offered as four 1-hour sessions for four weeks. We have received amazing feedback thus far and are excited to continue providing this service to more schools.”

Should you or your school are interested in this service please do not hesitate to contact us on Aretha.kausele@elsforautism.org , or alternatively on (072) 961-5756.

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Bertie Lubner – business leader, philanthropist, and dear friend of the Els family – sadly passed away on Monday 18 April at the age of 85.

Bertie Lubner and his brother Ronnie built PG Group into one of South Africa’s most successful companies. However, he will perhaps be remembered most for the extraordinary scope and impact of his charitable work, aimed at improving the lives of under-privileged youngsters in some of the most deprived areas in the country. “We’re at war against poverty,” Lubner once said.

“He was an amazing friend of not just the family but all our foundations,” commented Ernie. “Bertie was a true gentleman with an amazing sense of humour! He was a visionary, mentor, friend and one who will never be forgotten. Liezl and I send our sincere condolences to all the family at this very sad time.”

Among the many non-profit charitable organisations to which he lent his support, Lubner was chairman and co-founder of Afrika Tikkun, established to spearhead meaningful transformation and to empower individuals from disadvantaged circumstances to become skilled, educated and productive; to be masters of their own fate.

Lubner was also a recipient of numerous awards including the President’s Order of Meritorious Service. Indeed, President Mandela described Lubner’s work with Afrika Tikkun as a miracle. “I never expected organisations of this nature, which have brought hope to the disadvantaged,” said Mandela.

A statement on the Afrika Tikkun website read: “In true humanitarian spirit, Bertie put the interests of the community needs first. Up to his final days upon this earth, the thoughts of his heart and his commitment remained touchingly with the beneficiaries of Afrika Tikkun. We have lost a hero, one whose accomplishments in the thousands of lives changed through Afrika Tikkun extends beyond measure.”

A spokesperson for the Smile Foundation, also founded by Lubner in order to help improve the lives of disadvantaged children in South Africa, commented: “Dr. Bertie Lubner was a kind and generous man who did so much for so many and will be sorely missed. He truly was a legend in his lifetime.”

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Players, fans, media and tournament officials sported the colour blue at tournaments all around the world to mark Autism Awareness Month (see gallery below).

At the PGA TOUR’s RBC Heritage tournament at Hilton Head, the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in San Francisco and the Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open, there was widespread support from the players, including Michelle Wie (pictured above) for a cause that is of course close to the hearts of Ernie and Liezl.

“I want to thank everyone at RBC, Boeing and Hilton Head who embraced our traditional ‘Blue Out’ day on Thursday in support of Autism Awareness Month and to all of those who also wore the blue-and-white ribbon of The Els for Autism Foundation,” commented Ernie Els. “And to everyone on the LPGA and Sunshine Tour who also jumped on board. This global initiative has really gathered some momentum in recent years, which can have only positive repercussions for the wider autism community. Hats off to everyone who supports this wonderful cause.”

For more information on Els for Autism, please visit the website: www.elsforautism.com.

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The 8th Annual Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado Els for Autism Pro Am took place on March 7 at Old Palm Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

This already special day was made extraordinary with one magic moment, when Rickie Fowler hit a hole-in-one to win $1 million for the charity. “There’s kind of nothing to lose,” Fowler told the Golf Channel after making the hole-in-one. “Just having fun. It’s a small target. It doesn’t happen very often. Pretty cool to do that for Ernie and the [Els for Autism] foundation.”

The Annual Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado Els for Autism Pro Am – a private, invitation-only event – has become a firm fixture on the March golfing calendar…the unofficial fifth stop on golf’s Florida Swing, you might say. As is now traditional, the Hole-In-One Challenge sponsored by SAP and Ketel One Vodka takes place immediately after the Pro Am round is completed. By that stage Fowler had changed out of his golf shoes into sneakers, he had no golf glove and he needed to borrow a wedge from Luke Donald. Not that any of that mattered! Fowler’s shot looked perfect from the moment the ball left the club.

Later in the day, Fowler posted a photo on his Instagram page and captioned it: “Epic Monday! One of the coolest moments in my life making a hole-in-one earning $1,000,000 for @ernieelsgolf #ElsForAutism.”

“Unbelievable! This guy is my hero,” said Ernie as he gave Fowler a bear hug and lifted him off the ground, with jubilant scenes taking place all around. “I will always remember this moment; I almost can’t believe it happened. Again, we had amazing support from my fellow pros and they know how much we appreciate it.”

It was an amazing finale to a wonderful day of fun and fundraising. As in previous years, the 2016 Pro Am featured a star-studded line-up (pictured below): Ernie Els, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Tringale, Camilo Villegas, Charl Schwartzel, Daniel Berger, Greg Chalmers, Jack Nicklaus, Keegan Bradley, K.J. Choi, Louis Oosthuizen, Luke Donald, Nick Price, Retief Goosen, Rich Beem, Rory McIlroy, Rory Sabbatini, Thomas Aiken, Tony Finau and Vijay Singh. To save you the math, this group of 22 players boasts an astonishing 39 Major Championship victories combined.

These Tour pros are joined by an enthusiastic group of amateurs, thrilled to be inside the ropes with a legendary cast of some of the greatest names in golf, and there is wonderful support from a dedicated panel of prestige brands. At the helm alongside Ernie and Liezl are the event’s founders, and close personal friends of the Els family, Marvin R. Shanken (pictured below with Ernie, Liezl and Rickie Fowler), editor and publisher of Cigar Aficionado and Wine Spectator magazines, and Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont.

The amount raised at this year’s Pro Am brings the total fundraising pot to $8.82 million since the event’s inception in 2009. This has helped lay the foundations and, in August 2015, open the doors to a new state-of-the-art Els Center of Excellence dedicated to helping individuals and families globally on the autism spectrum. For more information on The Els for Autism Foundation, please click here.

Follow Ernie on Twitter @TheBig_Easy.

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Ernie & Liezl Els on Monday 17 August led a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate the opening of the first two buildings of their state-of-the-art Center, focused on improving the lives of individuals with autism.

“This Center is amazing and special just like us,” summed up Zack Poerio, who delivered a passionate and flawless address on behalf of students from The Learning Center at The Els Center of Excellence, at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. Zack, who along with over 100 other students attended his first day of school at the brand new Center, added: “ Thank you Ms. Liezl and Ernie for fighting for us – you are my heroes! Let’s make this the best school in the world!”

The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony which was attended by donors, local supporters, dignitaries and media celebrated the official opening of the first two components of The Els Center of Excellence – The Lower School and The Els Center of Excellence Auditorium Building. Among the special guests included PGA TOUR players Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Robert Allenby (pictured below) who came down to support their friend and fellow player. Honored guests included Palm Beach County Commissioner Hal Valeche, as well as Mayor Karen Golonka and representatives of the Town of Jupiter. Representatives from the offices of Congressman Patrick Murphy and Representative MaryLynn Magar, also attended the event and a special U.S. flag presentation to The Els Center of Excellence was made by Congressman Murphy’s office as part of the ceremony.

Guests were welcomed to the ceremony by Kerry Kruckel, Executive Director for the Foundation and Master of Ceremonies for the occasion. First to be introduced was Giuseppe Ciucci, Chairman of the Els for Autism Board who thanked the attending dignitaries and guests and described the project as “mission impossible that became mission possible!”

Next to speak was Palm Beach County Commissioner, Hal Valeche, a staunch supporter of the project since its inception. Commissioner Valeche stressed the positive impact that the Center will have on the local community:

“I am so proud to have a facility like this in my community. This is a transformative event both for the autism community and for the neighborhood – the local community of Limestone Creek.” He added: “Thanks to the Els family for having the vision.”

Last to speak were Ernie and Liezl Els, the Founders of the Els for Autism Foundation, and parents of Ben, 12, who has autism and attends the new school.

Ernie opened with the acknowledgement that getting the Center built “took a lot of effort from a lot of people “but that “a lot of families are going to benefit from this Center.” He went on to thank all the individuals and organizations that had made building the Center possible but stressed that the facility was not complete and that they still have “a long way to go” – with the next goal to build the Upper School and all of the sports and recreational facilities.

Liezl Els, credited by her husband as “the power behind this whole thing,” went on to speak movingly about seeing their dream of a world-class Center for Excellence come to fruition. Liezl explained their goal was “to make our Center and programs accessible to people around the world.”

“This Center is going to give our children the space to explore and express themselves. Over time they have had to make do with whatever they could get,” Liezl explained “We wanted to build a facility where these kids could realize their potential…and so that we could show the world just what our kids are made of, how strong they are, how talented they are and how far they can really go in life and what a massive contribution they can make to society.”

She added: “We have so many plans. Program-wise, our aim is to service the whole family across the full life span and construction wise we plan to build on all 26 acres of this campus, with the next components to go up being the golf practice facility and the Upper School building.”

Liezl thanked her husband for providing the golfing platform by which the Foundation was able to raise so much of its funds. She said: “A huge thank you for not only what you have given our child but the kids out there in the community and across the world.”  Liezl also made special mention of Ben’s 16 year old sister Samantha, who Liezl told guests, “helps her brother Ben find his way every-day,” and exemplified the integral part that siblings play in the lives of children with autism.

After the ribbon was cut by Ernie and Liezl, guests had the opportunity to tour the facility, enjoy musical performances in the auditorium by Reese Carpenter and Carlos Bosso, and talk to Els for Autism staff and teachers from the Lower School about the new Center and the programs and services it will provide.

The Learning Center, which opened yesterday is a public charter school with capacity for up to 150 children from ages 3-14, and, in-line with the entire campus, has been designed to create a learning environment specifically suited to children on the spectrum.

The ceremony also marked the opening of the state-of-the-art Auditorium Building, specifically designed to help facilitate the dissemination and gathering of applied research findings and best practices with the global autism community. The building, which includes a hi-tech, 300-seat auditorium equipped with space for programming staff, visiting scholars, professionals and researchers, will be the base from which the Foundation will develop and roll-out innovative, evidence-based programs focused on individuals with autism, their families and the professionals that work with them across the U.S. and internationally.

These two buildings are the first components that are being delivered of a 26-acre campus that, once complete, will include an Upper School (with capacity for an additional 150 students ages 14-22), extensive sports and outdoor recreational facilities (including a gymnasium, swimming pool, golf practice facility, athletics field, play courts and sensory garden and pavilion), a cafeteria, a medical and professional services building and an adult services component. Even before the dedicated buildings are in place the Center will bring together the critical elements of early intervention, education, sports and leisure, applied research, transition to adulthood, medical and professional services, and adult services all on one campus.

The Foundation’s fundraising campaign is now focused on raising the capital to complete the Upper School, the sports facilities, the medical and professional services building and the adult services component.

Donations can be made online at www.elsforautism.com and by check (made payable to ‘Els for Autism’) and addressed to: Els for Autism, The Els Center of Excellence, 18370 Limestone Creek Rd, Jupiter, FL 33458.

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Ernie’s long-term sponsor SAP gave up its customary spot on the front of Ernie’s hat in order to show support for Els for Autism during the RBC Heritage.

The tournament organizers had already designated Friday, April 18, as Autism Awareness Day or ‘Blue Out Day’, with players, caddies, spectators and media all being asked to wear blue and join Ernie in showing support for those affected by autism spectrum disorder. In 2013 the winner of the RBC Heritage, Graeme McDowell, wore the blue and white autism awareness ribbon pin the entire week!

This year SAP took it one step further, with the company instigating the idea to temporarily replace its logo with the Els for Autism Awareness Puzzle Piece Ribbon (pictured above) embroidered onto the front of the hat.

“Big thanks to everyone at SAP,” commented Ernie. “This was their idea and it is yet another demonstration of the fantastic level of support that they’ve shown for Els for Autism ever since Liezl and I established the Foundation in 2009. We couldn’t be more grateful to them.”

Elsewhere on the course, blue and white autism awareness ribbon pins were available to players and caddies at the 1^st and 10^th tees on Friday. Pins were also available to members of the media via the tournament’s Media Center. Spectators could also keep a look out for Ernie’s custom blue April autism awareness kit. Els’ signature lion headcover has turned blue for the month of April, while another of Ernie’s sponsors I-ONICS has produced a special blue charity wristband.

Added Ernie, “One of the key things we are doing this month, with the help of partners like RBC, the Heritage Foundation, Boeing, SAP and my other sponsors, is using golf as a platform to promote not only awareness, but also the importance of early detection. The earlier we can diagnose our kids and secure the help that they need, the better chance they have of leading productive and rewarding lives. So please join with us this week, and in fact throughout the month of April, to show support and help spread awareness.”

For more information visit the website: www.ElsforAutism.com/GoBlue

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There’s really exciting news to start this week’s report, as Liezl and I have just returned from a very special event celebrating breaking ground on the Els Center of Excellence here in Jupiter.

This was an incredibly exciting day not only for me, but also for Liezl and our children as we watch our dream of creating a world-class Center, focused on improving the lives of those impacted by autism, start to become a reality. We want to thank everyone who has helped make this happen; in particular, we wouldn’t be at this stage without the help and support of the local community. It’s a proud moment and we want to build and get the Center up and running as quickly as possible. In the meantime, if you would like to find out more, please click here.

Now, just a few words about the WGC – Cadillac Championship. Doral is always tough, but this year the ‘Blue Monster’ really showed its sharpest teeth, especially in the second round, which was the most challenging day I can remember in quite some time. The scoring average for the day was 76, with not a single player managing to break 70, which is almost unheard of outside a major championship.

With the golf course playing firm and fast, with a bit of wind and some tough pins thrown into the mix, obviously you had to be right on top of your game to stay anywhere near par figures. Not many managed it. The fact was, if you were even slightly off you got punished. It was a tough week. Not much more to say, really. You just move on…

…in this case move on to a celebration dinner at our house, where we could get together with friends, sponsors, partners and donors in advance of the Els for Autism Pro Am, in association with Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado. It was a really good night. Then on Monday morning straight after the Center of Excellence groundbreaking ceremony, we all got together for the Pro Am itself at PGA National Resort.

This was the sixth playing of this annual event and as always we had a bunch of keen amateurs teaming up with maybe our strongest ever line-up of Tour Pros. For their support my sincere thanks go to Thomas Aiken, Greg Chalmers, Graham DeLaet, James Driscoll, Rickie Fowler, Branden Grace, Justin Hicks, Thongchai Jaidee, Martin Kaymer, Justin Leonard, Matteo Manassero, Steve Marino, Will McGirt, Louis Oosthuizen, Pat Perez, Nick Price, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Kevin Streelman, Michael Thompson and Michelle Wie.

Thanks also to our sponsors and partners and to PGA National, the most generous of hosts and a magnificent partner to the Els for Autism Foundation these past six years. Seriously, thanks so much to all of you. We couldn’t achieve any of this without your support.

I’ll write again very soon. In the meantime, follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy

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