Tiger Woods Donates $5 Million to Lead Drive for Learning Center

Tiger Woods has given $5 million toward the launch of a $25-million fund-raising drive to build his first Tiger Woods Learning Center at the H.G. “Dad” Miller Golf Course in Anaheim.

“Growing up in Orange County and playing golf at Dad Miller definitely helped shape my development as an athlete and a person,” Woods said in a statement released Tuesday. “I think the learning center will provide many children with opportunities that they would not have had otherwise.”

The Learning Center project includes a 30,000-square-foot education building for computer courses and academic tutoring, plus a 23-acre golf teaching area. The golf facilities include a putting course and 10-acre par-3 course.

The center will offer its services free for children 8 to 17 years old.

The center is envisioned as the first of several around the country to be built by the Tiger Woods Foundation, which is run by Woods’ father, Earl.

Several locations were considered, including Long Beach. Golf architect Tom Fazio is designing the playing facilities.

Building the center in Orange County was viewed as a coup by local officials hoping to draw from Woods’ prominence as one of the world’s leading athletes. As a standout student at Anaheim’s Western High School, he played the Dad Miller course in the early 1990s. He now lives in Orlando, Fla.

“For a world-renowned local athlete to be inspired to locate this prestigious facility in the neighborhood of his youth is a heartwarming story of gratitude,” said Orange County Supervisor Cynthia Coad, the project’s chief supporter.

Coad pushed for the Woods foundation to take over a portion of the Dad Miller complex, which is owned by the Orange County Flood Control District and was leased to Anaheim.

As part of the deal, the county will spend $1 million from state park money for improvements to a nearby area planned for a flood-control catch basin.

Anaheim officials hope to revitalize the area around the learning center with parks, median landscaping and a community center.

The driving range at Dad Miller will be moved to accommodate the center.