Skip to content

· Public charity

Carolinas Golf Foundation

The CAROLINAS GOLF FOUNDATION was formed by the carolinas golf association in 1977 to provide scholarships and funding for a variety of carolinas-based golf initiatives.

$252k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$23k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Recreation & Sports$385kYouth Development$24kEducation$10kHealth$10k
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 11 grants below total $117,403, the rows itemized in this filing. The $251,901 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $134,498 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $82k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CAROLINAS GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT OFFICE$22,753
SWINGPALS INC$15,000
FIRST TEE OF GREATER WILMINGTON$12,000
FIRST TEE OF CENTRAL CAROLINA$12,000
FIRST TEE OF THE SANDHILLS$10,650
UPSTATE-CAROLINA ADAPTIVE GOLF$10,000
FIRST TEE OF THE UPSTATE$8,500
SCJGA$7,500
A PERFECT SWING YOUTH FOUNDATION$7,500
WSCGA VICKI HILLEN JUNIOR GOLF FOUNDATION$6,000
FIRST TEE OF CHARLOTTE$5,500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY24–25, $18k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%UPSTATE-CAROLINA ADAPTIVE GOLF: $10k → 10%UPSTATE-CAROLINA ADAPTIVE GOLF: $8k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$501k · 19 repeat orgs$45k to everyone else

19 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
9

Total granted

$501k
$45k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+56%

Still filing today

79%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Recreation & SportsYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyHealthEnvironmentEducationOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • SY
    Sandhills Youth Development Inc
    7× · 2019–2025 · $62k · revenue +115%
  • SWINGPALS INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $57k · revenue +155%
  • SC
    SOUTH CAROLINA JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION
    8× · 2018–2025 · $45k · revenue +36%

Funded once

  • CAROLINAS GOLF ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue +56%
  • DI
    DANIEL ISLAND CLUB EMPLOYEE FUNDgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +270%
  • PR
    Pinehurst Resort
    one grant, 2023 · $5k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
South Carolina Golf Association

To preserve, promote, and serve the game of golf

—
2
Professional Golfers Association of Carolinas Pga Section

Promote the enjoyment and involvement in the game of golf within the carolinas and to contribute to its growth by providing services to golf professionals and the golf industry within the carolinas.

Recreation & Sports
3
South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation

Establish necessary funding to create opportunities for youth through education and recreation as well as maintaining and expanding junior golf programs

Education
4
Carolinas Golf Foundation

The carolinas golf foundation was formed by the carolinas golf association in 1977 to provide scholarships and funding for a variety of carolinas-based golf initiatives.

—
5
Georgia State Golf Association

Promotion of game/rules of golf throughout the state of georgia

Recreation & Sports
6
Tiger Golf Gathering Foundation

The corporation was formed to promote clemson university's golf program through fundraising activities for the benefit of the clemson university foundation, including the design, construction and maintenance of a first-class golf practice…

Education
7
Indianapolis Junior Golf Foundation
—
8
Delaware State Golf Association Scholarship Fund
—
9
The Watson Youth Golf Foundation
Recreation & Sports
10
Georgia Section Pga of America Inc

To promote the enjoyment & involvement in the game of golf and to contribute to the growth of the golf professional and the golf industry. the georgia section will accomplish this mission by enhancing the skills of the golf professionals…

—
11
All Abilities Golf Academy
Recreation & Sports
12
Bluegrass Golf Foundation Inc

The Bluegrass Golf Foundation, Inc. ("Foundation") promotes and advances the game of golf as an amateur sport through tournaments and special events. Education about options and expectations for intercollegiate competition is provided…

Recreation & Sports
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Golf Fore Fun Inc; the most unlike its peers is Daniel Island Club Employee Fund. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

22 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 22 of the 28 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/22
Grantees still filing
18/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Sandhills Youth Development Inc: $62,169 · Recreation & SportsSandhills Youth Development IncGOLF FORE FUN INC: $42,000 · Recreation & SportsGOLF FORE FUN INCUpstate Youth Development Foundation dba First Tee - Upstate South Carolina: $36,000 · Recreation & SportsUpstate Youth Development Foundation dba First Tee - …Youth Golf Foundation of the Carolinas: $27,000 · Recreation & SportsYouth Golf Foundation of the CarolinasGreater Wilmington Youth Initiative Inc: $23,000 · Recreation & SportsGreater Wilmington Youth Initiative IncTHE CAROL S PETREA YOUTH GOLF FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsTHE CAROL S PETREA YOUTH GOLF FOUNDATION INCWomens South Carolina Golf Association: $16,500 · Recreation & SportsWomens South Carolina Golf AssociationTRIANGLE GOLF FOUNDATION INC DBA THE FIRST TEE OF THE TRIANGLE: $12,000 · Recreation & SportsAiken Junior Golf Foundation DBA FIRST TEE OF AIKEN SC: $10,000 · Recreation & Sports+2 more: $10,000 · Recreation & SportsSOUTH CAROLINA JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION: $45,000 · OtherSOUTH CAROLINA JUNIOR GOLF ASSO…FIRST TEE OF COASTAL CAROLINAS: $28,000 · OtherFIRST TEE OF COASTAL CAROLINASATLANTA DOWNTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION INC: $24,000 · OtherATLANTA DOWNTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD A…TRIANGLE WOMEN IN GOLF FOUNDATION INC: $18,950 · OtherTRIANGLE WOMEN IN GOLF FOUNDATI…A PERFECT SWING FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 · OtherA PERFECT SWING FOUNDATION INC+5 more: $25,000 · Other+5 moreSWINGPALS INC: $57,000 · Youth DevelopmentSWINGPALS IN…PGA REACH CAROLINAS FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentPGA REACH CA…CAROLINAS GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS AS: $27,753 · EnvironmentUPSTATE CAROLINA ADAPTIVE GOLF: $17,500 · Human ServicesWSCGA Vicki Hillen JGF: $12,000 · PhilanthropyDANIEL ISLAND CLUB EMPLOYEE FUND: $5,000 · PhilanthropyTHE NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Health
Recreation & Sports$258,669Other$153,450Youth Development$62,000Environment$27,753Human Services$17,500Philanthropy$17,000Health$10,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSandhills Youth Development Inc: $62,169 over 7y, 3.2% of budgetSWINGPALS INC: $57,000 over 5y, 3.3% of budgetSOUTH CAROLINA JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION: $45,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetGOLF FORE FUN INC: $42,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetUpstate Youth Development Foundation dba First Tee - Upstate South Carolina: $36,000 over 5y, 1.9% of budgetCAROLINAS GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS AS: $27,753 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetYouth Golf Foundation of the Carolinas: $27,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetGreater Wilmington Youth Initiative Inc: $23,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetTHE CAROL S PETREA YOUTH GOLF FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetUPSTATE CAROLINA ADAPTIVE GOLF: $17,500 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetWomens South Carolina Golf Association: $16,500 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetWSCGA Vicki Hillen JGF: $12,000 over 4y, 23% of budgetTRIANGLE GOLF FOUNDATION INC DBA THE FIRST TEE OF THE TRIANGLE: $12,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetAiken Junior Golf Foundation DBA FIRST TEE OF AIKEN SC: $10,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetTHE NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCAROLINAS GOLF ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDANIEL ISLAND CLUB EMPLOYEE FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetCLEMSON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPGA REACH CAROLINAS FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetKiawah Island Community Association Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT GOLF: $5,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

World Golf Foundation IncFL28.1× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: World Golf Foundation Inc · Pga Tour First Tee Foundation Inc · Dick's Sporting Goods Foundation · Pga Tour Inc · Heritage Classic Foundation · Duke Energy Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Carolinas Golf Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Carolinas Golf Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 28 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Carolinas Golf’s filings →

    More from the funding graph