Playing a round for a good cause

Highland Springs Country Club was opened in 1989 with the intent of being the premier venue for Ozarks golf enthusiasts.

The Nationwide Tour was formed by the Professional Golfers Association a year later.

The two have linked up ever since.

Evidently, the two were made for each other.

This year marks the 16th that the course has been the location of the tournament now called the Price Cutter Charity Championship. Jerald Andrews, executive director of the PCCC, is well versed in the intricacies of the event – he has been director of the tournament, as well as the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame – since 1995.

Andrews said the Price Cutter tournament is different from other charity tournaments because of its affiliation with the PGA, which has a mission of giving back to charitable organizations.

“We make sure our tournaments here are a success by looking at the bottom line: How much can we give to charity?” Andrews said. “This tournament is a leader on the Nationwide Tour in how much it gives to charity year in and year out.”

The tournament has provided more than $5 million to charity since it began, including more than $600,000 last year – and those figures don’t include in-kind donations and trade with the charities involved.

But while the PCCC may be the largest charity tournament in the area each year, it’s certainly not the only game in town.

Numerous charities and nonprofit organizations present individual charity golf events: Arc of the Ozarks, Council of Churches, Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks and Make-A-Wish Foundation Missouri are among them.

Most of the area golf courses also get involved, including Highland Springs, Millwood Golf & Racquet Club, Rivercut Golf Course, Deer Lake Golf Course and Springfield Golf & Country Club.

BCFO Events Coordinator Erin Brandt said the Women’s Senior Golf Tour Classic, slated for Aug. 13–14 at Millwood, is in its fourth year. In 2005, the event raised nearly $28,000 for the organization, which serves women and families affected by breast cancer.

Golf Fore Wishes, the annual Make-A-Wish Missouri golf event, is also in its fourth year. It raised nearly $17,000 last year.

Even Missouri Hall of Fame’s Andrews is involved with other tournaments – the Hall of Fame holds several tournaments of its own annually, including one June 4–5 at Highland Springs.

That event, and the accompanying auction, raised about $110,000 for the hall in 2005.

The formula

Make-A-Wish Executive Director Rogetta Prueitt said golf tournaments have gained popularity among nonprofit groups because they can be easily managed.

“Hosting a tournament is hard work, but it’s not a guess as to what you’re going to make – if you get this many players, this is what you’re going to make,” she said. “It’s a template, and everybody uses a similar scenario.”

For example, Arc Director of Development Stephanie Lutes said her organization is paying about $35 per person of the $150 registration fee to Springfield Golf & Country Club, with an additional $15 being spent on gift bags for the participants. Most courses offer reduced rates to charities. Even subtracting $50 for club fees and gift bags would leave Arc $100 per player. If there were 50 players, that would bring the organization about $5,000.

Registration and sponsorship money goes to the charity, which in turn pays a predetermined amount per participant to the course where the event is held. Additionally, most events offer hole sponsorships for companies, providing an extra source of revenue.

Lutes, who declined to disclose how much her group made from previous tournaments, said holding a golf tournament to raise money presents unique opportunities.

“If you really do your shopping, you can keep your costs down and put the money back into programs,” she said. “With the hole sponsorships, those are inexpensive and all the money goes back in. When you have a dinner or banquet, the costs are higher and those sponsorship opportunities aren’t really there.”

There are advantages for the courses, too, according to Millwood General Manager Dan Schumacher.

“It’s all positives for us,” he said. “We love hosting (charity tournaments) because they’re on Mondays, which is a day we’re closed. It gives us a chance to help local charities and generate extra revenue for the club, because it’s a day when no one would be here.”

The courses, in fact, have also gotten into the act – Millwood’s own charity tournament, Children’s Charity Classic, has raised more than $1 million for area children’s charities since it began in 1996.[[In-content Ad]]