Greatest Golfer is thrilled to announce the first 5 recipients of the Greatest Golfer George Bellino Scholarships from this spring’s Class of 2024.
The people all came up through the Greatest Golfer’s ‘Joe’ Dickey Electric junior golf series and graduated from area high schools this spring.
The recipients are:
Taylor Morrone and Luke Leskovac, Canfield High School; Hudson Rice, Badger High School; Sophia Rivera, Boardman High School; and Chase Forsyth, Ursuline High School.
All 5 receive $1,000 scholarships raised this summer through the Inspira Health Greatest Day of Golf event and a generous gift from the family of Valley golf great George Bellino. Donations were also received from among the 500 players and families that took part in Greatest Golfer events this summer.
Taylor Morrone attends Youngstown State University and is studying Nursing.
“The past few weeks of college have been great,’ said Morrone. “Golf has taught me how to stay patient and motivated and this has definitely helped me already in college.”
Sophia Rivera is also attending Youngstown State University, studying Psychology.
“My first weeks have gone well. I enjoyed meeting many new people. Golf has helped me make friends and taught me when to be serious and when I can have fun.”
Hudson Rice started school at Mount Union and is studying Nursing.
“It is quite hectic here balancing this huge workload from school along with still trying to play some decent golf. I am slowly learning day by day on how to improve my habits as I try to become a more successful student.
“Golf has definitely taught me how to interact with others, specifically making conversations and becoming friends. It has also taught me that just because it starts out bad, doesn’t mean it’ll end bad. I am hoping for my birdies to happen right about now with my first set of exams done.”
Chase Forsyth is studying business finance at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia.
“The first few weeks have been cakes. I played really solid in our qualifiers, so I have been in the lineup every week. But let me tell you — college golf is a different animal. These guys are all really solid players.”
Luke Leskovac is at The Ohio State University on a pre-med pathway.
“My first few weeks have gone really well and I’ve really been enjoying it. Golf definitely has prepared me for college life with how much walking I gotta do from class to class.”
The Inspira Health Greatest Day of Golf event hosted by the Joe Cilone family takes place in May at Trumbull Country Club and features 12 of the top Greatest players shooting for pars, birdies and eagles for pledges.
To raise funds for the scholarship program, Greatest Golfer is hosting a Greatest Conversations fireside chat Nov. 25. The event features Jim Tressel and Ed Muransky, huge Ohio State and University of Michigan figures, respectively. The chat is the week of the annual game this year, and the two legends will offer an evening full of insider and insightful talk — off-script and off the cuff, but on point on the game, the current state of college football, their career events and lessons learned.
Tickets are $125 per person. Tables of 8 are available for reservation. Food and drinks are part of the admission. Tickets on sale now. Follow this link for purchase details.
Sponsorships are available for this event. The levels come with special perks before, during and after the event, including up-front seating, first questions, drinks, promotion and more.
For questions and more information, email Todd Franko at moc.liamg@oknarfddot or call 330-314-3270.