Daly among star players in Shaw Charity Classic
Charity event draws dozens of star golfers to Calgary
When he steps onto the golf course, with his clothing’s colourful and popping patterns, John Daly is a hard guy to miss.
And when it was revealed the golfer — whose life is a match for his attire — would be competing in this year’s Shaw Charity Classic at Calgary’s Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club, ticket sales soared.
Daly will be joining 80 other Champions Tour superstars aged 50 and over for the fourth annual event scheduled for Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. His legend is unique in golf. His nicknames over his almost 30-year professional golf career range from Wild Thing (for antics on and off the course) to Long John ( he was the first tour player to average more than 300 yards off the tee) to Hero for his shocking zero-to-hero victory in the 1991 PGA Championship.
It is no surprise the very popular bad boy of golf is a big draw for Calgary’s Classic.
While publicly battling personal demons, he won 20 professional tournaments, designed golf courses, launched his own clothing line and recorded music.
The 50-year- old Champions Tour rookie brings his game to Calgary over the Labour Day weekend for a 54-hole stroke play tournament that has set spectator records in its previous three years. He’s looking forward to the buzz. “I hear the Shaw Charity Classic already attracts huge galleries. The fans pump me up and I feed off them. I always have and I probably always will,” says Daly in a news release. “There is nothing better than getting it going and having the fans get loud and crazy. That’s just the way I like them so I’m looking forward to driving the bus up to Canada and hopefully give the fans something to get loud about.”
Organizers are excited to have him in the lineup.
“Daly just brings the entertainment factor,” says Sean Van Kesteren, Shaw Charity Classic executive director. “He has reached the highest mountains of golf, and the lowest. He is a man of the people.”
Daly joins a strong Calgary field filled with other golf giants such as event newcomer Tom Watson (with 39 PGA wins including five British Open Championships, two Masters titles and one U.S. Open crown), Germany’s Bernhard Langer and Calgary favourite Fred Couples, who won here in 2014.
Daly joins a roster already chock full of legends who will compete for US$2.35 million in prize money — the winner will earn US$352,500.
But the event is about more than big crowds and big stars. The tournament has raised a staggering $8.5 million over three years for youth charities throughout the province — setting PGA Tour records. Last year it raised $3,942,712, shattering the previous record of $2.4 million also set by the event. Last year’s funds were distributed among 99 Alberta charities.
That charitable component, its record-breaking crowds and its 1,200-strong volunteer base, helped the event win the prestigious Champions Tour Presidents’ Award the past two years.
It’s the only international tournament to have won the award.
This year, tournament title sponsor Shaw Communications Inc. announced a donation of $1 million to support The Alex and Kids Help Phone as the Classic’s official charitable partners.
The Alex will receive $700,000 for its youth-based programs and to support construction/operation of its new Calgary Community Food Centre.
Kids Help Phone will receive $300,000 for BroTalk, a dedicated online support zone and referral service for young men aged 14 to 18.
And, for the second year, Birdies for Kids presented by AltaLink will help corporations and individual donors make a one-time or perbirdie donation, directed to the children’s charity of their choice.
Those donations are leveraged through a tiered matching program that will see a percentage of the first $250,000 donated to each charity.
But tournament organizers aren’t standing pat.
They continue to add new events that support youth charities while promoting fitness and bringing new eyes to the sport of golf.
But, in the end, the continued quality of the field is one of the biggest draws for the family-friendly event that attracted a Champions Tour record 44,000 people last year.
All three previous winners of the event — Couples, Rocco Mediate and Jeff Maggert — will be back in Calgary. They will be joined by an all-star cast that boasts 14 winners of PGA Tour majors with a combined total of 25 titles (seven Masters, four U.S. Opens, nine British Opens and five PGA Championships).
“It’s a great spectator sport and, whether you are a golfer or not, it is great value for your dollar. These guys love playing in front of our crowds,” says Van Kesteren.