Charley Hoffman helps Las Vegas
Longtime resident to donate golf earnings
Charley Hoffman was celebrating the USA’s victory in The Presidents Cup well into the wee hours of the first night of October when he began receiving text messages and emails.
His mood quickly started to change. A few hours later Hoffman was en route to a New Jersey airport when he learned of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, where a lone gunman killed 58 people and wounded nearly 550 more who were attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival.
“How could this happen?” Hoffman remembered thinking.
The news hit hard for Hoffman, a San Diego native who spent 20 years calling Las Vegas home. He graduated from UNLV in 1999, was a standout for the golf team that won the 1998 NCAA championship and still owns a home in the area. And a few of his friends were at the concert but were not injured.
“Las Vegas is a town that virtually everyone has been to and they love to come to the city. And the local people are very proud of their city, very proud of the local tourism,” said Hoffman, 40, a winner of four PGA Tour titles. “There is a lot of pride in this town ... what we give to the rest of the world. People visit us every day, and we want to portray ourselves the best we can. That night was not Las Vegas.”
Instead of standing pat, Hoffman drew on his good nature and charitable spirit and decided to do what he could to aid the ongoing recovery effort. Hoffman will donate his entire check from this week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open to organizations that support the victims of the shooting. He has pledged at least $20,000 from this week’s efforts at TPC Summerlin just outside Las Vegas.
A fundraiser he held at TopGolf Las Vegas on Sunday and his pro-am at TPC Summerlin on Monday, events where he was joined by Kevin Chappell, Colt Knost, Vijay Singh, Gary Woodland, Billy Horschel, Bryson DeChambeau and many others, also raised money to be distributed to multiple charitable organizations in Las Vegas.
It’s Hoffman’s way of giving back, which he has done since 2009 when he and his wife, Stacy, established the Charley Hoffman Foundation, which provides funds to organizations that benefit children in San Diego and Las Vegas.
“I always tell people that I dreamed of playing on the PGA Tour since I was a little kid, but I never could have dreamed about being able to give back in the way I’ve been able to,” Hoffman said. “That’s what’s so special for Stacy and me. It makes us feel really good, that we can help other people.”
While his foundation has raised nearly $2 million, he hopes to give out a lot more after the Shriners, where the first-place check is $1.224 million. But his track record in the event is not great — seven missed cuts in 12 starts, with just three top-10s.
“Hopefully I’ll play better than I have,” Hoffman said. “I’ve been here grinding and trying to get a good game plan for the course. Probably won’t be as aggressive off the tee as I have been in the past.”
And there will be a different pressure joining him at the first tee. “I’ve never done this, donating my check,” Hoffman said. “It’s a funny feeling. I’ve never had a better desire to win than this week. That’s a great feeling. Maybe I should do this more often.”
“There is a lot of pride in this town ... what we give to the rest of the world. People visit us every day, and we want to portray ourselves the best we can. That night was not Las Vegas.” Charley Hoffman On the Las Vegas shooting