Charity golf tournament tees off in Vernon - Tuesday, August 26, 2008
by Evan White
WKTV - Utica
VERNON, N.Y. - Pro golf is back in Central New York. Professional golfer and Native American Notah Begay has brought some of golf's biggest names to the area in order to benefit Native American youth programs.
Each of the golfers got underway a little after 12:30 Tuesday, giving Central New York fans what they want: pro golf. It's part of the Notah Begay Foundation Challenge, a cause each golfer says they support.
Some of the players were easier to convince than others. Stewart Cink for instance, has been running his own tournament and says he knows how hard it can be to recruit pro golfers. Cink is joined by Mike Weir, Vijay Singh and Camilo Villegas in addition to Notah Begay.
Many of the golfers have played in tournaments within the last week, but say the skins format, that has money riding on each hole, changes their mindset and raises the competitive juices for some.
"No matter if you won or maybe finished farther down the cut or whatever you did, everybody's got thing they're working on in their golf game and so today is a perfect day to test a club maybe or test something in your swing or try something with your putter. It's a great way to try it under the heat.," says Cink.
Begay expects to raise more the $100,000 for the foundation from the tournament.
