Ben Firebaugh, a senior at William Byrd High School, was named the 2010 Don Holliday Memorial Scholarship winner during a presentation Tuesday morning at Roanoke Country Club.
The Don Holliday Scholarhip is the largest golf-related scholarship in Southwest Virginia. Firebaugh was presented a check for $ 20,000 at the ceremony. He is the 24th high school student from the area to receive the award. Since 1987,over $ 250,000 in scholarship money has been handed out to deserving local high school students.
Firebaugh will attend Newberry College (SC) in the fall. He has a 3.5 GPA in the classroom and has been captain of the Terrier golf team the past two seasons where he was regional player of the year in 2009.He was also nominated for the Wendy’s High School Heisman this past year. He spends time off the course volunteering at the First Tee of the Roanoke Valley and works at the Roanoke City Rescue Mission.
The Don Holliday Memorial Foundation was formed in 1986 to honor the memory of Don Holliday, district sales manager of Piedmont Airlines. Their one-day tournament, held at Roanoke Country Club, will be held this year on June 19th.
“This award is a tremendous help with my college costs,” Firebaugh noted after the presentation. “It was exciting knowing I was in consideration for such a prestigious award.”
By Bill Turner