Price Cutter Charity Championship adds programs for 19th year

The Price Cutter Charity Championship, presented by Dr Pepper, is slated for July 17–20 and will feature the best players from the Nationwide Tour. While the roster for this year isn’t yet available, past winners of the championship include current PGA Tour veterans Chris DiMarco, Stewart Cink and Jerry Haas.

In addition to four days of tournament play – which drew some 38,000 attendees in 2008, according to the Professional Golfers’ Association – the Price Cutter Charity championship also includes pro-am play at area golf courses, golf clinics, a celebrity skins game, pairings parties and awards banquets.

But while the Price Cutter Charity Championship brings some of golf’s biggest names to the Ozarks, it also provides much needed financial support for children’s charities. More than $6.3 million has been collected in the event’s first 18 years.

In addition to its normal slate of programs raising money – 41 children’s charities will receive funds this year – and the building of a house for Habitat for Humanity of Springfield, Executive Director Jerald Andrews said event organizers are trying new programs to reach more charities and boost charitable contributions.

Reaching out

Among the new charitable aspects of the tournament is Tickets Fore Community Causes, sponsored by Mattax Neu Prater Eye Centers.

Participating charities receive sets of $25 passes, good for parking and admission to all four days of the event. The charities sell the passes, receiving $20 for each one sold.

“We have more than 40 charities we’re giving support to. So this was a way to broaden our scope without taking away in any way from those,” Andrews said.

Participating entities must be registered 501(c)3 corporations and apply to the event committee to participate.

The Kitchen was the first charity to sign up, and interim CEO Rorie Orgeron said his organization already has sold its first pack of 100 tickets and has received a second.

“This is something we can do that doesn’t commit our volunteers to a particular time slot on a particular day, which is something that sometimes prevents people from being able to participate,” Orgeron said.

Andrews said six nonprofits are signed up for the program, and another six are likely to join the list of participants.

Also new in 2008 is The Ultimate, sponsored by LaFerriere & Kienstra Facial Plastic Surgery. For $1,000, patrons get a $50 gift certificate to an area restaurant, an invitation to a special pre-tournament party at The Tower Club and two VIP passes to the tournament, including seats in a reserved skybox near the 18th green.

Andrews said some 100 The Ultimate passes will be sold, and purchasers will be entered into a drawing for 10 prizes worth $1,000 and a 2008 Chevrolet Corvette.

“If we sell all 100 chances, this program will generate considerable extra money for the charities we’re supporting this year,” Andrews said.

Both programs are a response to the economy and the increased pressure on charities, which are faced with higher operations costs and decreasing donations.

“The economy is desperate right now,” Andrews said. “We’re seeing that, all of our charities we support are seeing that, and it’s one reason for creating these two new programs.”

History of success

The PCCC’s 19-year history is somewhat unique for what is now the Nationwide Tour; only three other events out of the tour’s 31 stops in 2008 have been around since the tour began in 1990.

Andrews attributes the Price Cutter Charity Championship’s longevity to the size of the Springfield market, which he said is right for this level of professional golf.

“It’s why the Springfield Cardinals do so well in Springfield – they wouldn’t do this well in St. Louis,” Andrews said. “This level of professional golf wouldn’t do well in St. Louis; it’s been tried there. This is the right-size market.”

He said the event also has become more than just a golf tournament or a charity fundraiser.

“People get involved for lots of reasons – some are golf enthusiasts, some appreciate what it does for charity, but there’s also a lot of business networking that goes on,” Andrews said. “It has become one of the Ozarks’ largest social and business networking opportunities.”

It’s the charity aspect of the event, which collected more than $650,000 last year, combined with an existing relationship with title sponsor Price Cutter Supermarkets that has kept Dr Pepper on board, including four years as a presenting sponsor.

“Not only is Price Cutter one of our biggest customers in southwest Missouri, but they happen to be sponsoring one of the largest activities for charity. What better way for the Dr Pepper Co. to give back, specifically to children’s charities,” said David Gibbs, Springfield-area Dr Pepper representative.

Andrews noted that businesses also can use their donation dollars to support multiple organizations.

“If a company makes one gift to one cause, someone else asks for that same gift,” Andrews said. “In this case, they’re able to make a gift to this event and know that they’re impacting 40 different charitable causes.”

He added that event organizers hope to surpass its totals from previous years.

“Our objective is to raise as much as we possibly can. It doesn’t matter how much we’ve ever given away; I never think it’s enough,” Andrews said. “Our goal is always to give more.”

Event Schedule

A complete listing of Price Cutter Charity Championship events is available at www.pricecuttercc.org.

Charitable Connections

These charities will receive proceeds from the 2008 Price Cutter Charity Championship:

A Sporting Chance

AIDS Project of the Ozarks

Ambassadors for Children

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks

Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield

Boys & Girls Town of Missouri

Bridges for Youth

Camp Barnabas

Camp Fire USA

Cardinals Care

Champion Athletes of the Ozarks

Children’s Miracle Network of CoxHealth

Christian Action Ministries

Convoy of Hope

Developmental Center of the Ozarks

Family Violence Center

Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Fordland Clinic

Good Samaritan Boys Ranch

Habitat for Humanity of Springfield

Jordan Valley Ice Park Athletic Foundation

K-Life Taney County

Lost and Found

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Missouri

March of Dimes

Missouri State University Foundation

National Alliance on Mental Illness

New Covenant Academy

Ozarks Regional YMCA

Ronald McDonald House of the Ozarks

Roy Blunt YMCA of Bolivar

Shriners Hospital Dads

Silver Dollar City Foundation

Special Olympics Missouri-SW Area

Springfield Advocates for Youth

Springfield-Greene County Park Board

St. John’s Foundation for Community Health

The Arc of the Ozarks

The First Tee of the Ozarks

Webster Electric Foundation

White River Valley Electric Foundation