GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Challenge Enterprises of North Florida and BallHawker have partnered together to recover and recycle golf balls to bring a positive impact to the environment and waterways in Florida.

The partnership started when Todd Hutchinson, President of BallHawker, learned about Challenge Enterprises and its focus to promote the “Power of the People and Possibilities” for individuals with disabilities.

“Challenge Enterprises not only assists individuals with different abilities with finding meaningful employment opportunities, but we are also an employer at our 11,000-square-foot warehouse,” said Stephanie Young, Director of Marketing and Communications.

As a family-owned business, BallHawker recovers and recycles golf balls while focusing on environmentally conscious approaches. They aim to ensure that bodies of water near golf courses are completely clean while leaving the courses renewed and refreshed. To do that, the company’s dive team coordinates with Florida golf courses to retrieve the golf balls that have strayed off course. Currently, they recover 8,000 golf balls a day, thus preventing deteriorating golf balls from polluting the water.

At Challenge Enterprises, thousands of recovered golf balls are delivered several times a week and employees with different abilities are employed to process the balls for reuse. Recovered golf balls deemed reusable are scrubbed, air-dried and sorted according to quality.

Balls are then sorted into premium brands such as Callaway, Bridgestone, Snell, Srixon, TaylorMade, Titleist and Vice. These brands are then boxed, labeled and sold by BallHawker or in Golf Pro Shops throughout the state. Any remaining useable golf balls are packed, shipped and sold in bulk to other retailers.

Challenge Enterprises looks forward to the continuous success and opportunities this partnership will bring in the future. The golf balls purchased from BallHawker will help the waterways stay clean and bring support to small businesses. In addition, it will allow Challenge Enterprises to increase their job opportunities for those living with disabilities.

“In the past nine months, the BallHawker enterprise has grown from f14 golf courses yielding 20,000 golf balls per week to 40 golf courses yielding 50,000-plus golf balls per week,” Young said. “This growth translates into more job opportunities and a greater number of individuals becoming independent members of our community.”

To learn more about Challenge Enterprises visit www.challengeenterprises.org. To learn more about BallHawker visit ballhawker.com.