2024 Scratch Golf Camp

3-Day Camp at Reeves Golf Course

Thursday, August 1 | Friday, August 2 | Saturday, August 3

10:00am to 12:00pm

In partnership with Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute and the Congenital Heart Alliance of Cincinnati, patients are eligible to be considered for FREE summer golf camp. Golf Camp is open to Congenital Heart Disease patients and Center for Better Health and Nutrition patients, ages 7-14. Consideration for admittance to camp is based upon review from Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute medical staff.

Program participants must commit to a three-day Scratch Golf camp at Reeves Golf Course. All participants will also commit to the fall session of classes led by First Tee, which meets once a week for six weeks beginning the week of September 9. Days, times and locations vary. Participants may select their preferred location during registration. 

Scratch Golf at First Tee

First Tee – GCNKY was honored to partner with Scratch Golf to deliver our Golf and Life Skills Program to kids/teens with Congenital Heart Defects and Disease and children identified as at risk of heart disease. Each summer since 2016, we host a three-day camp for Scratch Golf kids/teens who then participate in our Golf and Life Skills program and can return to our programs through high school!

The Scratch Golf camp mission is to help congenital heart defect kids and children identified as at risk for future heart disease socially, mentally and physically through golf. The goal is to meet new friends, take a mental break from medical issues and learn some important life lessons through golf.

In 2016, the Congenital Heart Alliance of Cincinnati took on one of their Trustee’s, Spencer Timmel, dream of Scratch Golf. Spencer, an avid golfer and dad to Charlie, who was born with a heart defect, saw a need for these kids to have a safe outlet to be active and healthy. He saw Scratch Golf as a way for kids who sometimes have difficulty finding friends or have learning problems and kids who are prevented from high-cardio or full contact sports to have a positive outlet to learn a sport they can safely play for the rest of their lives and build a network of family and friends experiencing the same issues.

The kickoff to Scratch Golf also gave Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center the opportunity to conduct research to measure how light physical activity improves the physical health of patients with congenital heart defects and also how physical and team activities can improve their mental health. And this proved to have great results.

The Heart Institute at Cincinnati Children’s in partnership with Congenital Heart Alliance of Cincinnati continues to promote this program to eligible patients and over 60 kids have taken part in Scratch Golf camps and First Tee – GCNKY classes. Scratch Golf has proven successful over their 5 years with our chapter and is now expanding to other cities in the U.S.

We are thankful for our good friends Spencer, Erin, Charlie and Ella Timmel for trusting our organization with this special program.

For more information on the golf camp and for eligibility questions, please visit the golf camp website at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Special Thank You to: