Heard On The Green

ON THE BENCH. The 1998 Reliable Superstore-Frank Connor Children's Charity Classic announced Aug. 3 that Hall of Fame baseball star Johnny Bench will join the Senior PGA Tour stars slated for Children's Charity's Sept. 20-21 tournament. Other notables joining host Frank Connor will be five-time 1998 winner Gil Morgan, John Jacobs, Dana Quigley and Walter Morgan. Tickets are $10, and are available at Millwood Golf & Racquet Club, Reliable Toyota-Lexus-BMW Superstore and the Hammons Student Center box office. Events include the Pro-Am Registration and Mixer, Lexus Nine-Hole Putting Championship, Sponsors & Pro-Am Pairings Dinner and Live Auction Sept. 20, and the PGA Senior Tour Clinic, Pro-Am Shotgun Start and Sponsors and Pro Am Awards Dinner Sept. 21. For more information, contact Keith Stafford at 869-3673.

TEE FOR TWO. For the first time, the Nike Ozarks Open has organized a fully sanctioned PGA/Nike handicapped Silver Dollar City Pro-Am, presented by the SDC Foundation and benefitting two area children's organizations new to the Nike: Branson Youth Life and Camp Barnabas, as well as four other Springfield area organizations. The Aug. 11 event, to be held at Stonebridge's Ledgestone Country Club, will pair Nike Tour players with Branson area amateur and celebrity golfers.

A GREAT LADY. The first annual Connie Morris Memorial Golf Tournament, benefitting Ozarks Public Television, will be held Aug. 28 at Rivercut Golf Course, 2850 W. FR 190. Morris, seven-time winner of the City of Springfield Championship in the 1960s and a lifelong golf enthusiast, was an advocate of golf as a sport for all. The wife of Springfield businessman Jim Morris, Connie Morris passed away earlier this year. Shotgun starts for the tourney are at 7:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. A free instructional clinic will be held 12-1 p.m. the day of the event.

TOMORROW'S TOUR STARS. A free golf clinic for kids ages 10-17 will be held 8:30-10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.-noon Aug. 23 at Golf Land, 3300 E. Cherry. Area pros will help kids improve their game, learn about the sport and "get started on a lifetime of fun" during this special event, underwritten by NationsBank, according to a press release from Golf Land. Space is limited. To register, call Shelly Daniels at 865-2100, ext. 238.

RSVP. The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program is the beneficiary of the Keiser Equipment Company Ozarks Open Championship for Mixed Couples, Aug. 29 at Rivercut. The tourney features medal play with certified handicap by flights, plus a scratch flight, open and senior division play, and championship and runner-up awards in each flight and the senior division. The cost is $150 per couple, and the entry deadline is Aug. 17. Tee times begin at 10 a.m. For registration information, call 862-3595.

SLICE OF NICE. The Community Blood Center of the Ozarks has been advised by the National Blood Exchange that it is part of the 10 percent of the nation's blood centers experiencing a shortage of type O negative blood. The center has a critical need for this blood type and is in need of all other types, as well. The center is also experiencing backlash from a nationwide shortage of blood donors. If you would like more information on donating blood or sponsoring a blood drive at your business, please call the Community Blood Center at 227-5000.

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