DECATUR, Ill. – Steve Orrick, Jr., Head PGA Professional at Country Club of Decatur, has participated in every Illinois PGA Section Birdies for Charity event since its inception eight years ago. Although this year was a bit different. Instead of playing in the Section fundraising event in the Chicagoland area, he was playing with nine other golf professionals in the inaugural Central Illinois PGA Chapter Birdies for Charity event.
“There were only two pros from the Central Illinois Chapter participating in the Section’s Birdies event and we thought it was a good time to bring the event to the Chapter level and raise some money for local charities here,” said Orrick.
So, this year, the day after Labor Day, Orrick and his fellow CIPGA Chapter golf pros played 72 holes of golf at Country Club of
Decatur to make as many birdies as possible to raise funds for Boys and Girls Club of Decatur and OSF Healthcare Children’s Hospital of Illinois. And, they were successful making 256 birdies and raising $37,000.
“All of us pros were excited to host the inaugural Central Illinois Chapter Birdies for Charity event and are thankful to our donors for continuing to support us and help children in our communities,” said Orrick.
Kyle English (Crestwicke CC) led the Chapter pros carding 35 birdies on the day followed by Nick Taute (South Side CC) with 33, Daniel Finney (CC of Decatur) with 31 and Orrick, Kurt Rogers (Red Tail Run GC), and Tim Krouse (Effingham CC) with 25 each.
The other professionals participating in the event were Scott Brownfield (CC of Peoria), Ben Irwin (Red Tail Run GC), David Lundy (Mt. Hawley CC) and Clay Stevens (Weaver Ridge GC).
“The Central Illinois PGA Chapter is a great group of dedicated golf professionals who really wanted to do something good for children’s charities in the community and extending the Birdies for Charity event to the Chapter level seemed like a great opportunity to do that,” said Carrie Williams, Executive Director of the Illinois PGA Section and Illinois PGA Foundation.
Birdies for Charity was created in 2011 when Travis Johns (Medinah CC), event co-chair, brought the concept with him from the North Texas PGA Section where he had previously worked and proposed it to the Illinois Section Board. At the time, Gumbach was sponsorship chairman and immediately thought it was just the kind of community involvement program the Section and its members needed to rally around. And so, the event was created and continues today.
For more information about the event and to make a donation, please visit ipgabirdiesforcharity.com.
About the Illinois PGA/Illinois PGA Foundation
The Illinois Section of the PGA of America is a professional organization serving the men and women golf professionals in northern and central Illinois who are the recognized experts in growing, teaching and managing the game of golf. The Illinois PGA is responsible for the administration of competitive golf tournaments, educational opportunities, support programs and growth of the game initiatives. With over 840 members and apprentices, the Illinois PGA is one of the 41 regional Sections that comprise the PGA of America. The Illinois PGA Foundation focuses its community efforts on promoting the goodwill and growth of the game with an emphasis on activities that benefit youth. Foundation initiatives include: GolfWorks Illinois, Youth-based Scholarship Funds and the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame. For more information about the Illinois PGA and the Illinois PGA Foundation, please visit www.www.ipga.com and join us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
CONTACT:
Palmer Moody
Illinois PGA Communications
847.804.2721 mobile
pmoody@pgahq.com