Tournament raises record funds for 38 charities

This year, the event, now the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper and a stop on the Nationwide Tour, earned a record $629,764 for 38 area charities.

The largest amount – $49,899 – went to Ronald McDonald House.

“We are so fortunate,” said Bonnie Keller, Ronald McDonald House president and CEO. “This has given us such a strong foundation for our organization to be very solid and provide a lot of growth for our organization.”

In fact, she said, the tournament raises 13 percent of her group’s annual budget and has allowed the organization to plan a second house that will open in Springfield in 2008.

Other top recipients at the Nov. 30 annual awards luncheon at Highland Springs Country Club were A Sporting Chance with $48,281, Good Samaritan Boys Ranch with $48,222, Boys and Girls Club of Springfield with $47,384 and Silver Dollar City Foundation with $45,000.

“That’s the best day of the year for us and certainly for those charities,” said Todd Yearack, vice president of operations for the tournament, about the awards luncheon.

The tournament, Aug. 7–15, raised about $7,000 more this year than last and has raised more than $5 million since its inception.

Yearack said organizers donate as much money as they can after covering the $1.8 million to run the tournament.

He said this year’s tournament drew more than 1,000 volunteers, more than 400 sponsors who paid between $500 and $30,000, and about 40,000 spectators who paid $10 to $250 per ticket.

Yearack said he expects all 20 lead sponsors, who each pay between $20,000 and $40,000, to return for next year’s tournament, July 16–24 at Highland Springs.

He also said title sponsor Price Cutter agreed to a one-year renewal of its contract, valued at about $300,000, but he hopes that will not be the end of the commitment.

“I would hope that we would be able to get together pretty quick and do something a little more long-term,” he said.

Seeing how the tournament has progressed is impressive, Yearack added. “It just speaks volumes for the sponsors, the businesses (and) the volunteers.”