The 3M Championship's charities received $1.3 million in 2008

Golfing for Good

Charity golf events in Minnesota raise $52.4 million annually. What a few of the state’s top events do with their dollars and why you have reason to be proud.

By Matt Rogers

What compels a professional golfer like J.P. Hayes to disqualify himself from a PGA Tour qualifier for a rules infraction no one saw? Honor. It's infused in the game's history and formalized in its rules and etiquette. It helps guide pros and hacks alike—all regularly call rules infractions on themselves, sometimes with calamitous consequences.

Golf is a game where the low scorer shoots first on the next tee, where hats are removed in the clubhouse to memorialize veterans and where being courteous on the course counts as much as the score you post while playing it.

Unfortunately, the game has come under a cloud of late, thanks to public outcry over corporate indiscretion and federal bailout funds. However, those who are quick to brand golf as synonymous with excess miss entirely the honorable ethos that sets golf apart from other games.

Case in point: Golf is a major artery through which charitable giving flows, particularly at the local level. According to a 2006 study conducted by Golf 20/20 in partnership with the Minnesota Golf Association, $52.4 million in charitable giving is raised annually in Minnesota through golf tournament events, pro-ams and club giving. It's a number both powerful and surprising at first glance. $52.4 million: Can that be right? Yep, and it's OK to be proud, Minnesota golfers.

So, where do those charitable millions come from? Through hundreds of events played throughout the state every summer. Chances are, you've played in a few of them, putting your money toward good golf and a good cause. Here's a look at some local favorites—how they're run, what they raise and the remarkable things being done with the proceeds.

Tapemark Charity Pro-Am

Co-founded in 1972 by Pat Cody Sr. and Bob Klas Sr., father of two children with developmental disabilities, the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am has raised $6 million to date, $233,000 in 2008 alone. Proceeds from the June event at Southview Country Club in West St. Paul go to charities like Arc Greater Twin Cities, which works to secure opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (www.arcgreatertwincities.org).

"There's no cure for developmental disabilities like autism and cerebral palsy," says Marianne Reich, chief program officer at Arc Greater Twin Cities. "Families often don't know where to turn when they discover that one of their kids has a disability. We provide services for families to find the proper resources and help put their children on the proper trajectory for independent adult living."

Unlike other charity golf events, the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am is an important state professional tournament and one of four majors for Minnesota pros to be considered for Player of the Year honors. Three amateurs are randomly selected to play with a pro, and 60 teams compete for the title, with a $20,000 tournament purse. Local golf hero Tom Lehman won the event in 1990 and has credited the Tapemark with restarting his professional golf career. Organizers also conduct a women’s golf event later in the year.

3M Championship

The most prominent annual golf tournament in the state, the 3M Championship, brings Champions Tour greats to the TPC in Blaine each summer. Funds are raised through corporate sales and sponsorships, ticket sales, merchandise, corporate outings, and food and beverage sales.

"People don't understand how lucky we are to have full-time golf events," says Hollis Cavner, 3M Championship tournament director.

He's right. The 3M Championship, aside from its annual $25 million economic impact, brings off-the-charts donations to charities each year—$15 million since 1993, including $1.3 million in 2008.

A key supporter of Allina Hospitals & Clinics (www.allina.com), the championship has put proceeds toward the expansion of the United, Mercy and Unity hospital emergency departments and Abbott Northwestern’s Virginia Piper Cancer Institute.

Randy Shaver Golf Classic

Run by Roseann Giovanatto-Shaver, wife of KARE 11 sports director and anchor Randy Shaver, and inspired by her husband's well-documented bout with cancer, the Randy Shaver Golf Classic has raised $4.5 million for Minnesota’s cancer research community since 1995, including $350,000 in 2008. It raises money through a Sunday-night gala and auction, a Monday scramble and corporate sponsorships; only 9.6 percent of the event's revenue goes to its operating budget.

Each December, the Shavers confer with a panel of doctors to decide where to direct funds from their event. One of last year's recipients, Dr. John Ohlfest, a researcher at the University of Minnesota, is using $60,000 to develop an innovative cancer treatment called comparative oncology, where surgery, gene therapy and vaccination are used simultaneously to arm the immune system and encourage it to fight the cancer naturally, without radiation or chemotherapy (www.braintumorlab.com).

Having tested the treatment on dogs with cancerous tumors and a life expectancy of 30 to 60 days, Ohlfest has seen very encouraging results. One dog named Batman, now well past 200 days since treatment, has gained considerable weight and has seen his tumor all but disappear. Ohlfest's next goal is FDA approval for a human clinical trial, so that he can begin to use the treatment with people.

"It's a lot of work," says Randy Shaver, who says he is used to seeing his wife run around like crazy before the event. "But on that night in December when we award the funds and get to meet all of the Minnesotans doing such great things ... wow, it's really worth it."

Small Standing Tall

While it's impossible to mention all of the hundreds of smaller charity golf events in Minnesota that help make up the $52.4 million donated annually, it would be a mistake to discount their efforts.


"Ten-thousand dollars is a big deal," says Kathy Potter of Access of the Red River Valley (www.accessrrv.org), which has raised that amount—and more—in each of the three years since starting the Access Golf Classic with help from former Minnesota Viking Matt Blair and his company.

Access of the Red River Valley, which like Arc Greater Twin Cities provides services for people with developmental disabilities, has embraced golf as a great way to raise money while increasing exposure for the organization. Each year, Access uses the proceeds to do little things that enrich the lives of the people it supports, including trips to Twins games, special needs camps, horseback riding and other quality-of-life events.

Adds Potter of Access: "When you see the smiles on their faces and how the money we've raised helps them get rid of their headaches, you can’t help but feel grateful to the game of golf."


So here's to you, golfers of Minnesota. Simply by playing in charity golf events across the state, you’ve brought honor to Minnesota and the game of golf. Next time someone tells you golf is all about excess, share that big number—$52.4 million—and watch them try to argue with that. -MG

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