The Kiwanis Club of Tellico Village is preparing for its biggest fundraiser of the year with the 17th annual charity golf outing scheduled for Aug. 27 at Toqua Golf Course.
“Our whole mission is to serve the children in and around the area in Loudon County and outside that area,” Phil Smith, club golf committee chairman, said. “All the projects that we do in Kiwanis (are) oriented toward helping kids in one way or another, whether it be working with the schools, helping supplement reading time and that sort of thing, all the way to providing funds for kids to buy school supplies and backpacks. And then we’ve got this AmTryke project which is a separate thing.”
Registration is $50 per person, plus greens and cart fees. A continental breakfast will be provided at 8 a.m., followed by a shotgun start an hour later for a four-person modified scramble. Each member plays from the tee and then selects the best shot. This procedure will carry on until the golf ball is holed. Lunch will be provided by Chick-fil-A.
As of Aug. 10, Smith said 58 tickets had been sold. Hopes are to have at least 100 people signed up in time for the fundraiser.
“Mainly it’s just a fun time,” Smith said. “People are willing to support the cause, but then there are a lot of prizes and special contests — closest to the pin and longest drive and all that.”
Contests are set to include hole-in-one, longest drive, straightest drive, pitch and putt and closest to the pin. On the first hole, golfers have the chance to get off to a good start by allowing Toqua Golf Course professional Peyton Ritchie drive the ball for them.
Club golf committee member Bob Bland said money raised from that hole will benefit Smoky Mountain Service Dogs. Lenoir City Chrysler will offer a car on the third hole if someone sinks a hole-in-one. Golfers will also have an opportunity to double their money on the 13th hole, which is being sponsored by the Loudon High School Key Club.
“What they do is — that one is kind of interesting because all four of the golfers in the foursome have to get on the green on their first shot,” Bland said.
Each year, the golf outing brings in $14,000-$15,000.
Smith said the goal this year is to raise at least $15,000.
“Every penny that we earn that we get goes right back into the kids, and so that’s one of the really nice things,” Rick Bailey, club treasurer, said.
Bland said money raised will go toward more than 50 Kiwanis projects, in which about 100 members contribute more than 5,000 sweat equity hours.
Bailey said the charity fundraiser brings in a large crowd because people in the community understand the event’s importance for children.
“The big things that the folks get is we give out a lot of prizes,” Bailey said. “Everybody has a chance to get back something from the tournament, but the money that they pay, they know that it’s going to a really good cause for the kids in the community. The format that we play gives everybody a fair chance at winning something, but the people don’t play in this tournament because of the prizes. They play in this tournament because it benefits the whole community.”
The charity golf outing is one of three fundraisers held each year by the local Kiwanis club, with the other two events being pancake breakfasts in April and November.
Bland said the breakfasts typically raise about $8,000 each.
“The pancake breakfasts have gotten to be something in the Village that a lot of the residents like to come to because they meet (one another),” Bland said. “It’s at the community church, and we’ve got big tables set up in there and they get together and some of them hang around an hour. It is well-attended and the people come and they hang around and visit, and it’s a lot of the same people come every year for that.”
Registration forms for the golf outing are available at Rarity Bay, Tanasi, Toqua and Kahite clubhouses in Tellico Village. Mail forms to Smith at 110 Tigitsi Lane, Loudon, TN 37774, and make checks payable to Kiwanis Foundation of Tellico Village. Registration deadline is Aug. 26.
