Welcome to HickoryRecord.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

HickoryRecord.com - Hickory Daily Record

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

Going for the green at the Greater Hickory Classic

Tournament enters 7th year of raising money for charities

Robert C. Reed | Hickory Daily Record

Jamie Williams and Mike Helmsetetler, of Signs Pros of High Point, place a sign at the 15th tee.

DETAILS

2009 Tickets Fore Charity program participants include:

• A Place To Grow

• Adult Life Programs Inc.

• Alexander Partnership for Children

• ALFA

• American Cancer Society

• American Red Cross-Catawba Valley Chapter

• Avon Breast Cancer Walk Team

• Boy Scouts of America-Piedmont Council

• Burke Council on Alcoholism & Chemical Dependency

• Caldwell County Humane Society

• Caldwell County Yokefellow

• Caldwell Friends

• Catawba County Health Partners

• Catawba County Parenting Network

• Catawba County Shrine Club

• Catawba County United Way

• Centro Latino of Hickory

• Children’s Advocacy Center

• Christian Community Outreach Ministries

• Connections-Catawba Valley Behavioral Health

• Council on Adolescents

• CVCC Foundation

• Eastern Catawba Cooperative Christian Ministry

• EGAP Ministries Inc.

• Family Care Center of Catawba Valley Inc.

• Family Guidance Center

• Flynn Christian Home of Hickory

• Flynn Christian Home of Morganton

• Gaston County Family YMCA

• Girl Scout Council of the Catawba Valley Area

• Girls on the Run of Catawba County

• Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry

• Hickory Kiwanis Foundation, Inc.

• Hickory Soup Kitchen

• Horses For Hope

• Kid in Need Public Health

• Lake Norman Christian Center

• Lincoln County Coalition Against Child Abuse

• Lincolnton Band Boosters Association

• March of Dimes

• Meeting Place Mission

• Montessori Children’s House of Newton

• Palliative CareCenter & Hospice of Catawba Valley

• Phoenix Group Homes

• Pregnancy Care Center

• Rape Crisis Center

• Repay Inc.

• Safe Harbor Rescue Mission

• Saint Alban’s Episcopal Church

• Shelter Home of Caldwell County

• Sherrils Ford-Terrell Rotary

• South Caldwell Christian Ministries

• The Corner Table Inc.

• The Outreach Center

• United Way Alexander County

• United Way Lincoln County

• Women’s Resource Center

• Word of Life Christian Center Church

• YMCA of Catawba Valley

• Young Life of Iredell-Statesville

By Richard Gould | Hickory Daily Record

Published: September 11, 2009

CONOVER - The seventh annual Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn is gearing up to get started next week and they're ahead of schedule, said GHC Executive Director Jim Correll.

The classic is expected to draw some 100,000 golf fans to the tournament over the course of the week, and that's great news for area charities.

The tournament is a charity event and has given some $750,000 to local organizations since its first year in 2003, Correll said.

"The big winners of the tournament are the charities," he said.

This year, tournament organizers began Tickets Fore Charity — a program that allows charities to sell tickets to the event and keep 100 percent of the proceeds. So far more than 60 organizations have signed up.

"We said, 'Hey, here's a way we can help some charities more than we already do,'" Correll said. "There's no catch. What we want is to get more fans out here."

Business owners also have benefited from the tournament over the years. Correll said the Greater Hickory Classic Presented by Kia Motors has generated more than $160 million for businesses in the Hickory Metro Area.

"It's been a great ride — one that we hope to continue," he said.

Correll said he's optimistic the Greater Hickory Classic will be back next year with Kia as a major sponsor, but the tournament is looking for a new title sponsor.

Rock Barn Golf and Spa has been the title sponsor since the classic began and will still have a very strong presence in the tournament, Correll said.

"I think Kia and all the major sponsors will stick with us as long as we're here," he said, adding that the tournament is looking for a new title sponsor or a group of sponsors to fill the title sponsor's role and take some of that pressure off Rock Barn.

It costs around $2 million to be the title sponsor for a stop on the PGA's Champion's Tour, and Correll's confident a new sponsor or sponsors will be found.

For more information about this year's tournament, go to www.greaterhickoryclassic.com.