Ron Mon's playing 100 for charity

Golf may not be reserved for the elite like it once was but let's face it - it can still be an expensive hobby and we're privileged enough if we have the luxury to play. That's why I love it when people use golf to give back.

Long time travelgolf blogger, Ron Montesano (wasn't he killed off in the Sopranos?) is playing 100 holes of golf on June 18 and seeking sponsors to benefit the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation and its fight against cancer on behalf of "Carly's Club."


Please visit this site and contribute what you can for this great cause.

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Charity Event at Moorpark Country Club

On Thursday, May 17, Moorpark Country Club will be the site of the Phillips & King International annual charity golf tournament.


This year, Phillips and King has chosen the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation as the recipient of the proceeds. This foundation is working to improve the lives of families in the villages surrounding the town of Caribe in the Dominican Republic. They do this by helping to build much needed schools, health clinics, recreation facilities, a safe drinking water network, youth programs, adult training and much more. Last year, the tournament raised almost $19,000 and would love to make that same kind of contribution to this year's recipient.

The details

When: May 17th, 2007, 12:00 PM shotgun start.
Where: Moorpark Country Club (I'll post an update when I find out which two of the three nines they will use)
Update: The tournament will be played on the Ridgeline and Canyon Crest nines.
Women: White tees, Men: Blue tees
Entry fee: $225

The entry fee includes lunch, a full course dinner, a gift bag and lots of cigars.

Prize opportunities include a new BMW or Harley Davidson, airline tickets, a Caribbean cruise, rounds of golf, trophies and more, and are awarded for Hole-in-one, Long Drive (Male and Female), Closest to the Pin (Male and Female), putting contest, 1st and 2nd place and a raffle. There will also be a live auction.

Since this event is only two weeks away, sign up soon using the registration form below (click on it to get a larger version) or by calling (805) 744-4188 or (800) 532-4427 x 188.

I know it can be difficult to get out to play at noon on a weekday, but I hope to see you there! (You can also just come for the dinner, auction and raffle for a $100 contribution.)

Stock car racing is easy - but watch out for those golf carts!

This weekend, Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson took a spill from a golf cart and fractured his wrist in the process. The incident happened at a celebrity charity golf tournament in Lecanto, Florida.

In his official story he claimed that he "was in a golf cart and the driver took a sharp turn... I wasn't holding on tight enough, landed awkwardly on the ground and heard a little pop."

As it turns out, he was in fact ON the golf cart when that driver took a sharp turn. I guess golf cart driving isn't quite as exciting as NASCAR racing. Yep, "horsing around" on the roof of the cart, according to his team.

Don't fall off, Jimmie!

It is the off-season for NASCAR, so he'll have plenty of time to heal before he has to compete again. However, the much celebrated driver of the Lowe's car won't be able to participate in the all-star, international "Race of Champions" in Paris this coming Saturday.

Maybe Jimmie should stick with this golf cart next time.

I bet his teammates and competitors aren't going to let him forget this mishap for awhile.

It kind of makes me think that driving a stock car must be relatively easy. I mean heck, I drive golf carts all the time and have never had a single incident. No crashes, no injuries, nothing. I bet if I had a huge corporate team behind me that designed a winning car, I could get strapped in to that baby with all the protective gear and drive that thing to victory! Need a sub in Paris, Jimmie?

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Gilda's Club Worldwide auction - golf stuff up for bid

Gilda's Club Worldwide is auctioning off items on ebay to raise money that will help support people living with cancer. That's Gilda's Club as in Gilda Radner, the hilarious actress and comedienne best known for her funny business in the first cast of Saturday Night Live. Gilda was taken early by ovarian cancer in 1989.

The auction includes golf items such as passes to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and World Woods Golf Club. It looks like the big ticket item of a vacation package to the 2007 US Open with behind-the-scenes privileges courtesy of The Golf Channel has already closed, but there is still time to get bids in on many other items. Here is the e-bay link to the Gilda's Club Auction site.

The Gilda's Club Mission

"The mission of Gilda's Club is to provide meeting places where men, women and children living with cancer and their families and friends join with others to build emotional and social support as a supplement to medical care. Free of charge and nonprofit, Gilda's Club offers support and networking groups, lectures, workshops and social events in a nonresidential, homelike setting."

And Elizabeth Berkley has something to do with it as well. Far from her teen queen period from Saved by the Bell or lascivious stripper character in Showgirls, she is now applying her image and name recognition to help this charitable cause.

Since I don't blog about Natalie Gulbis bikini shots and calendars or other such sexy-golfer related hit generators catering to the perverted Michele Wie upskirt crowd, I was tempted to put up the stripper photos of Elizabeth Berkley while I had the chance. However, due to the nature of the post and the cause and what she's trying to do, I opted instead to do the right thing and use this more respectable photo.

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Driving for Life: Fighting ALS at Riviera Country Club

What: A golf tournament with breakfast, lunch, dinner, evening reception, auction, pre-round clinic, keynote address and awards.

Where: Riviera Country Club.

When: Monday, November 6. Registration and breakfast starting at 9:30, shotgun start at 11:30.

Why: To raise money for the ALS Therapy Development Foundation, which is a non-profit organization developing treatments for this devastating disease (commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease).

From the Driving 4 Life website:

"Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating, progressive neuromuscular disease that causes complete paralysis and loss of function—including the ability to eat, speak and breathe. Thirty thousand Americans have ALS, and 250,000 Americans alive today will eventually die from the disease. Most patients die within four years of diagnosis. There is currently no known cure.

Driving 4 Life is a national fundraising campaign founded by World Golf Hall of Fame member Tom Watson, his late caddy Bruce Edwards and former PGA TOUR professional Jeff Julian. The campaign has raised more than $3.5 million to date. Both Bruce and Jeff lost hard-fought battles with ALS in the summer of 2004."

How you can help (and what you get out of it):

Charity golf tournaments capitalize on the irony that charity is selfish by giving the giver even more for their contributions than altruistic warm fuzzies. They give them golf.

And Driving 4 Life does it at premier locations with this event being held at the esteemed Riviera Country Club.

With available sponsorships ranging from $500 - $30,000, you can feel as warm and fuzzy as your wallet will allow. (The foursome rate is $5000.)

But wait: If you happen to be a golfer without such sizable contribution capabilities, you can still help out the ALS cause and possibly play in the tournament for a mere $50.

That's right. You can buy a raffle ticket for $50 and designate Riviera and be entered into a drawing to win a playing spot at the tournament. And a winner is chosen for every 25 entries, so the odds are pretty good! You can buy as many tickets as you want. There it is: you get to give, gamble and possibly golf all for the low, low price of $50. Tickets must be purchased by October 30, so head on over to their website now to start feeling good right away.

Still more opportunities: Maybe you're not quite ready for a $50 commitment. Maybe you're scared of tournament play. Or maybe you're a golf fan and not a player. They have something for you as well. You can still enjoy Riviera Country Club from a fan's perspective with the added bonus of being able to watch the pros play.

Make a $15 minimum donation and get a ticket to the Nissan Open at Riviera next February. Get a ticket for each $15 you donate. Retail on these tickets is $25! You're spending less and getting more! Remember, you're GIVING.

When you make your donations online, just enter in the comments box whether you want Nissan Open tickets (and how many) or if you're entering the raffle for the tournament. And don't try to double dip with a $50 donation. That's just greedy, not ironic.

And, of course, all donations are tax deductible.

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