Ernie Els Opens Jupiter Charter School For Autistic Children

Posted By: Tom Edringtonon: August 19, 2015In: PGA Tour NewsNo Comments

Ernie Els winning the Payne Stewart Award came as no surprise when the PGA Tour made the announcement on Wednesday.

Els is well known for his charitable works and his latest efforts resulted in the opening of the Els Center of Excellence in Jupiter this week.

The center is a charter school for autistic children. Els plans for it to evolve into a campus-style setting where parents can be housed. The Lower School and Auditorium buildings were opened on Monday.

Els, a World Golf Hall of Fame member, received $300,000 for the Stewart Award, to be donated to the charity of his choice, which will likely be the autism center.

Els has also been a big promoter and benefactor of junior golf in South Africa.

Tom Edrington

Tom Edrington spent the first 10 years of his misguided youth as a sports writer for the Tampa Tribune. His career brought him face to face with many of sports greatest stars -- Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Muhammad Ali, Don Shula, countless Hall of Fame NFL stars, more PGA Tour players than he can count. In 1980 he was honored by the Golf Writers Association of America for writing the best news story that year, his coverage of Jack Nicklaus' U.S. Open victory at Baltusrol. Today, 36 years later, golf is still a great part of his life, thanks to competitive playing days and the wonderful people he has met on this fabulous journey.