Second-annual “Dormie Cup” fundraiser grows in 2011. Dozens of country’s best young golfers compete at Dormie Club on Oct. 15-16 with proceeds benefiting Wounded Warriors and others
MOORE COUNTY, N.C. – Having the ability to regularly participate in junior golf events seeded a noble idea for 15-year-old Patrick Cover of Davidson, N.C.
“Fortunately, my family has been able to financially support my dream to be a successful junior player,” Cover said. “Realizing that many talented young players are not so lucky, I wanted to find a way to help them with tournament expenses.”
Cover brainstormed with his friend and fellow accomplished competitor, 15-year-old Thomas Walsh of High Point, and the two came up with the idea of spearheading a charity, junior golf tournament.
Born was the “Dormie Cup” named after its host facility, the Dormie Club in West End, N.C. After raising donations in 2010, Cover, Walsh and 10 other junior golfers gathered at Dormie and divided the group into two teams of six for a match-play tournament modeled after the Ryder Cup.
This year, their event has blossomed. Cover and Walsh will participate in the second-annual Dormie Cup on October 15-16, when 24 nationally ranked junior golfers from North and South Carolina play a two-man team competition over the Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore-designed masterpiece to decide the winners on Sunday afternoon.
Each junior has been challenged to raise a minimum of $1,000 with an overall goal of raising $24,000 or more. Conducted jointly by the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and the United States Golf Association (USGA), a program called “Leadership Links” provides juniors all the tools necessary to learn charitable giving skills through a fundraising campaign or volunteer program.
Last year, the Dormie Cup donation totaled more than $10,000.
“We wanted to put on a charity tournament because we wanted the boys to have a chance to give back,” Cover said. “When you are traveling every weekend and most of the summer, it is hard for the junior golfers to get involved in a routine with a local charity.”
As in 2010, this week’s tournament at Dormie Club promises to be a fulfilling weekend of fun, fellowship, and outstanding golf. Participants will sport Dormie Cup hats and shirts, enjoy their own locker and receive participation trophies. In 2010, Team Coore bested Team Crenshaw to hoist the Dormie Cup trophy and take home Scotty Cameron head covers.
Also at this year’s event, keeping a focus on fundraising efforts and those most deserving of the boys’ efforts, tournament organizers have established a “Charles G. McCartney Award” that will be given at the end of the event to the boy who best exemplifies service to country, a love of his fellow man, and a love of golf and fellowship.
The award is named for Thomas Walsh’s great uncle, “Chuck,” who twice received the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for wounds sustained in the Battle of the Bulge under General Patton’s command. The committee will chose a winner based on the “performance” of the young man in the areas of fund raising and sportsmanship, with a trophy being made that will become the centerpiece of the tournament’s closing festivities.
But the real winners in 2011 will be the three charities chosen to receive the funds raised. Some funds are distributed to the First Tee Program of the Sandhills and the American Junior Golf Association Scholarship Program – two outstanding organizations that provide funds for needy junior golfers to travel and compete in high-level events.
Yet, the majority of the funds raised will benefit the Wounded Warrior Program, which assists veterans who return from action with injuries in their efforts to adjust to life back in the United States. The funds raised during the Dormie Cup will help in enlisting public support, provide aid to those in need and provide programming and services to our men and women.
“Golf is a game that exemplifies the spirit of giving and I am so blessed to be a part of this most wonderful game,” said Cover. “My hope is to use this game of golf that I so love to raise money for charities that are near and dear to my heart.”
To learn more about the Wounded Warriors – an organization dedicated to fostering the most successful, well adjusted generation of wounded warriors in our history – visit their website at www.woundedwarriorproject.org.
Learn more about Dormie Club at 910-947-3240 or www.DormieClub.com
Contact:
Martin Armes (919) 608-7260, martinarmes@nc.rr.com
Brad King (336) 306-9219, king@bradkingcommunications.com
