Charity golf events bring big money

Southeast Missouri's golf courses are busy with charity tournaments, benefit games and corporate outings during May and early June.

These tournaments are a primary funding source for nonprofit agencies but enjoyed by golf course employees too. "It's fun for the members and we get sponsorships" to raise money, said Marybeth Williams, executive director of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. The chamber just held its annual tournament earlier this month at Bent Creek Golf Club.

Scott Roe of the Dalhousie Golf Club said there are six or seven tournaments booked for the coming weeks. "And we'll take more if we can get them," he said.

The club only offers the tournaments on Mondays only, so the groups using the course have a nearly private event. The groups have to promote their tournament and collect the fees, but once everyone arrives at the course, Dalhousie manages the operations.

Melody Anderson, regional development officer at Lutheran Family and Children's Services in Cape Girardeau, said nearly 200 people played during a tournament May 9 at Dalhousie .

Another 36 teams are set to tee off June 6 in the United Way of Southeast Missouri's annual four-person scramble at the Cape Girardeau Country Club.

Having a tournament at Dalhousie is a huge draw because it's ranked one of the top courses in the state, Anderson said. And since the tournament has only one fee for every player, participants "can relax and not feel like they're being nickeled and dimed to death" while they play.

Anderson said players come from Poplar Bluff, Farmington and even St. Louis for the event.

Golf tournaments offer business people a way to network while donating to a charitable organization, she said. "They feel like they get something in return."

Nancy Jernigan, United Way executive director, said people in Southeast Missouri have been supportive of the annual event because they love to golf. In its 18-year history, the tournament has only been canceled once that Jernigan could remember, because of inclement weather.

"We had a rainy day the year before last, and we kept apologizing and they just kept playing," she said.

Many of the players return year after year. The tournament raises between $15,000 and $20,000 each year for the United Way.

The four-person scramble format that the United Way uses also assures first-time golfers have a good time. "You really only have to have one good golfer" per team, Jernigan said. "It gives people a chance to play who aren't very good and some who are a chance to show off."