Mon - 29 Jul
Written by Mike Koolbeck
Zach Johnson has been on a torrid streak on the PGA Tour of late.
He was in a playoff at the John Deere Classic earlier this month and the following week he finished fifth at the British Open.
Johnson didn't play in the Canadian Open over the weekend, but he wasn't slacking off.
He had bigger things in mind.
Johnson hosted the Zach Johnson Foundation Classic on Monday at Elmcrest Country Club. The third annual event was organized to raise money for the foundation and its Kids on Course program. The gala and auction on Sunday night and pro-am tournament Monday raised xxxxxxx, after raising $1 million a year ago.
"My foundation is based here," Johnson said. "This is my hometown. This is where I learned how to play the game. This is the community that gave to me and as a result, it just feels like it's the right thing to do, to give back to the community and to help kids."
Johnson had a lot of help from his friends, including Kurt Warner - like Johnson a Regis High School product - and Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson from Des Moines.
Former Hawkeye football players Tim Dwight, Chuck Long, Nate Kaeding, Dallas Clark, Jared DeVries and Jason Baker, as well as ex-cager Mike Gatens, also played.
And so did six of Johnson's fellow members of the PGA Tour.
"It's a humbling feeling, knowing that these guys feel that this is an important day in their schedule, because their schedules are just as compact or more congested than mine," Zach Johnson said. "For them to say I want to take the time to come and support me, my family and my foundation and this community is massive.
"But it's not that surprising. All of these guys get it. It's big picture thing for them. They know I'm not going to ask individuals that don't get it. Frankly, I'm not going to associate myself with guys that don't get it."
Scott Simpson, who won the U.S. Open in 1987 and now is a member of the Champions Tour, was playing in his first classic. Simpson has his own charity event in Los Angeles that benefits brain-injured children.
"That's one of the great things about golf," Simpson said. "The Tour itself gives a lot of money to charity and everyone usually does something in their hometown area.
"Like Zach said (at the gala) last night, it's a privilege to be able to use something we love to do - which is play golf - for a lot of other people."
Simpson said he was amazed by the support of the Cedar Rapids community.
"This is an amazing event," he said. "I can't believe how many people are out here. It's a great turnout."
Tickets were $20 for adults. Children with a ticketed adult were admitted for free. Tickets also were disbursed to families of children attending Van Buren and Harrison schools.
Cedar Rapids policeman Rod Schulte brought his father, daughter, son and nephew. His dad, Jim, was a volunteer at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and received a framed gold-plated medal that he had signed by Shawn Johnson. She won the gold medal on the balance beam in the 2008 Games.
Schulte's daughter, Sydney, is confined to a wheelchair because of a profound muscular disease. Her goal was to get the autographs of Shawn Johnson and pro Sara Brown, and she succeeded.
Those types of things are what Elmcrest golf professional Larry Gladson said make the Zach Johnson Foundation Classic special.
"It means a lot to us as a club, as a community, that Zach brings all of his friends in here from the PGA Tour and lets everybody get the opportunity to watch them play great golf," he said. "But most importantly to raise money for the Kids on Course program."
Gladson said he hopes the event continues into the future.
"The plans are for it to continue on, but every year the Zach Johnson Foundation board of directors analyze what's best for the foundation," he said. "But the plan going forward is to keep on going with the event. It's been very successful in its first three years."
PGA Tour pro Kyle Stanley and his group of amateurs Patrick Gustafson, Denny Stoddard, Tim Hawkins and Thomas Tjaden won the event at a net 32-under.
Stanley is taking this week off from the Tour, but Johnson and Harris English are headed to Akron, Ohio, for the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational. Mark Wilson, who finished tied for sixth in the Canadian Open in suburban Toronto on Sunday, is headed to Reno, Nev., for the Reno-Tahoe Open. Both tourneys start on Thursday.
"This is their day off," Gladson said. "They get a chance to go out and relax and, maybe, work on their game a little bit. But for the most part they're just relaxing and supporting Zach."
