Mother Nature recently brought the Centre Region some much-needed precipitation and as a result May flowers are blooming everywhere.
That means the Centre Region golf courses begin the parade of charity golf tournaments. However, the weather won’t be the biggest concern for charity golf events in 2009. The state of the economy will definitely be a factor in the success and future of charity events this golf season. It will be interesting to see how it all played out come October. When this golf column began 20 years ago, there was no Coaches vs. Cancer Celebrity Golf Tournament, no Mount Nittany Medical Center Charity Golf Tournament, no Glenn O. Hawbaker Golf Tournament, no Penn State/Centre County United Way tournament. No major events really to speak of. Very few events were ever listed in the golf column for exposure for any particular charity. In fact, in 1990 the Second Mile Celebrity Golf Classic was a mere 11 years old. The Second Mile event will celebrate its 29th year of existence this summer. Two other events that have prevailed over that time are the Red Raider Football Open, now in its 31st year and renamed the Bryan Durkin-Dr. Hugh Rogers Bellefonte Football Red
Raider Open and the Bald Eagle Area Varsity Club- Gary Confer Memorial Golf Tournament celebrating its 20th year.