A deserving coach is recognized for her contributions to empowering girls through golf

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., December 1, 2022 – LPGA*USGA Girls Golf announced today that Teresa Zamboni, Site Director for Girls Golf Port Orange and Co-Owner of Nancy Lopez Golf Adventures has been selected among a list of 81 nominees as the recipient of the 2022 Sandy LaBauve Spirit Award, the most prestigious honor bestowed by LPGA*USGA Girls Golf.

Zamboni, an LPGA Class A Professional for more than 25 years, will be presented with her award on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023 during the LPGA Professional Rolex Awards ceremony at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

“I am grateful to share my passion for teaching with the next generation of golfers through LPGA*USGA Girls Golf,” expressed Zamboni. “The girls’ enthusiasm motivates me to keep finding ways to make the game fun and challenging for them. I am truly honored to receive this award. To have my name associated with a visionary like Sandy is incredibly humbling.”

Named after the founder of LPGA*USGA Girls Golf, the Sandy LaBauve Spirit Award honors an individual who has gone above and beyond to inspire the lives of juniors through their passion and dedication to empowering girls through golf. LaBauve was an LPGA Teaching Professional in Phoenix, Arizona and a mother of two daughters when she founded Girls Golf in 1989.

“Teresa Zamboni is a wonderful choice for this year’s Spirit Award. She is full of energy and strives to build golf and life skills in every girl she coaches,” said Sandy LaBauve. “We have all benefitted from her positivity and Play Happy philosophy. I am proud to call her my friend and am grateful for all she has done to help grow girl’s golf.”

Zamboni currently teaches at Crane Lakes Golf & Country Club in Port Orange. In 2007, she was selected as the LPGA National Teacher of the Year and was later awarded the Nancy Lopez Golf Achievement Award in 2015. She is one of the nation's top 50 LPGA teaching professionals and Golf Digest 50 Best Women Teachers in America.

Her “Play Happy” philosophy teaches girls to balance playing golf at their personal best while enjoying every moment of the game. Zamboni is known for living the LPGA*USGA values and for building a successful program to help her girls recognize their strengths while encouraging deep family involvement. She prides herself on keeping her Girls Golf programs exciting using holiday themes and LPGA tour ambassadors throughout the year to integrate the 5 E’s of Girls Golf: Enrich, Engage, Exercise, Energize, and Empower.

Lexi Carr has been a student and a regular participant of Girls Golf since age five, when she and her mother would drive down from Jacksonville to join the monthly clinics in Port Orange. For more than eight years, she remained committed to the program gaining confidence in her game while also being inspired by Zamboni’s contagious energy and caring teaching style. “I appreciate how Coach Teresa challenges me. She not only teaches us about the game of golf, but valuable life lessons like leadership, teamwork, and accountability,” stated Carr. “Coach Teresa’s lessons will stay with us for life. A good coach can change a game; a great coach can change a life.”

"Just as the LPGA*USGA Girls Golf program is not your typical golf program, Teresa Zamboni is not your typical site director,” said Girls Golf volunteer, Beth Chandler. “Teresa is authentically genuine and a relationship builder. She believes that each participant has their own unique and limitless potential. Her creativity and enthusiasm consistently offer an environment that motivates girls to learn. Teresa is a great role model for young girls and an inspiration to volunteers, coaches, and fellow golfers.”

Teresa Zamboni Receives 2022 Sandy LaBauve Spirit Award

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