Dottie Pepper once took a short hiatus from broadcasting to give more of her time to the advancement of golf.
As a PGA of America board member for three-plus years, the winner of 17 LPGA Tour events including two majors left her role as a commentator for NBC and Golf Channel late in 2012 to focus on the PGA’s grow the game initiatives that included junior golf.
Now 10 years into her role as the primary on-course golf reporter for CBS, Pepper wanted to show her support for similar programs on the Grand Strand through the nonprofit Project Golf, and was the featured speaker Tuesday at the Circle of Champions Celebration and Fireside Chat at Wachesaw Plantation in Murrells Inlet.
The event was an appreciation banquet for significant donors to Project Golf, which is based at Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach and has programs for veterans, youth – particularly those who are at risk and underprivileged – beginners, and now first responders.
Pepper has been aware of Project Golf’s mission – which includes PGA HOPE for veterans – through Gary Schaal, a past PGA of America president who is the executive director of the nonprofit.
“PGA HOPE was something that became a big part of my time on the national board,” Pepper said. “It was something that came to the forefront of decision making and funding and really getting that program to be more kind of face-forward. I thought it was remarkable what they did and literally the hope they gave people.”
PGA HOPE is perhaps Project Golf’s most important and impactful program. It is run in conjunction with the PGA of America. HOPE is an acronym for Helping Our Patriots Everywhere. It got its start in Charleston and now has 550 chapters.
The program gives vets equipment and instruction over six or seven weeks to start, with instruction from area PGA professionals who are certified in adaptive golf training. It includes giving instruction to amputees and otherwise physically challenged students.
This year, Project Golf is adding a ‘First’ program for active and retired first responders, giving them the same free access to the game, instruction, events and supportive camaraderie that veterans in the area have enjoyed over the past several years. Spring and fall ‘First’ sessions are planned at Barefoot Resort.
Thanks to a donation from Project Golf, a ParaMotion golf cart is available at the Hackler Course at Coastal Carolina. The specialized cart is designed to elevate users into a standing position, allowing individuals who may not otherwise be able to stand or walk the course to hit shots.
Project Golf is now aiming to provide ParaMotion carts to facilities on both the north and south ends of the Strand to give disabled players a place to play the game throughout the area.
Pepper’s golf mission
Pepper served as a member of the PGA of America Board of Directors from 2012 to 2015, and the Northeastern New York section board from 2009 to 2015. She was the recipient of the 2016 William D. Richardson Award, presented by the Golf Writers Association of America for outstanding contributions to golf.
Pepper’s first golf instructor, George Pulver, was a World War I veteran; her grandfather was in the U.S. Army Air Corps, which predated the Air Force, in the Pacific Theater during World War II; and her nephew is in the Air Force, stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
So veteran causes are dear to her heart.
So is junior golf. Pepper sponsors multiple scholarships at the upstate New York golf course that Pulver designed that allow juniors to play year-round for $200. The course also has a PGA Junior League program.
“It’s really just giving kids something positive to spend their time doing, and they might even find out they can do it for a lifetime,” Pepper said.
Pepper lives with her husband in her hometown of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., but South Carolina is her second home.
She played at Furman University in Greenville, and moved back to the Palmetto State in the mid-1990s for about a decade at the mountain The Cliffs at Glassy golf course.
She looks forward to annually working at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island.
Pepper said her contract with CBS as the network’s primary on-course reporter runs through 2028, with a one-year company option for 2029.
“After that who the heck knows?” she said. “Who knows what the PGA Tour will look like, who knows what golf will look like, who knows what I’ll look like? If the jacket still fits.”
She was offered an analyst role in the booth, but prefers to be on the ground in the midst of the action.
“I’m an outdoor dog,” Pepper said. “I really enjoy still feeling the competition rather than being in a box.”
Pepper is also involved in Christian Music Ministry and brings the music to upstate New York, and is an avid gardener and downhill skier.
Pepper gave a presentation during the Circle of Champions Celebration and Fireside Chat on her history in the broadcasting business and a day in her life during live television broadcasts. “Making chaos turn into a symphony,” said Pepper, who also had a Q&A session. “There’s a lot going on.”
