A record 57,000 fans witnessed Justin Hicks win the 10th annual BMW Charity Pro-Am golf tournament, which was co-hosted at Brights Creek golf club in Mill Spring for the first three rounds.
The win, which came after a one hour rain delay in which Hicks and pro Fabian Gomez were the only two remaining golfers left on the 18th fairway, was the first this year for the University of Michigan alum. He finished the tournament at 20 under par (66, 65, 69, 66).
Todays win earned Hicks $108,000, to move him to seventh on the Nationwide Tour money list. Hicks has earned a total of $138,010 so far this year. The top 25 money leaders on the Nationwide Tour automatically earn playing status on the PGA tour in 2011.
Amateur Rolf Klam and his professional partner Scott Gutschewski won the Pro-Am/Pro-Celeb portion of the tournament at -47 under par. They donated their $5,000 winnings to the S.C. Mountains to Midlands Affiliates of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Hall of Fame baseball player and Anderson native, Jim Rice and his professional partner Rob Oppenheim finished second. They donated their $4,000 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Greenville native Jennifer Mills and her pro Gomez finished sixth. Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney and his playing pro Phillip Mollica finished 10th.
Complete scoring can be found on the tournaments website at www.bmwcharitygolf.com by clicking on the “Leaderboard” feature box.
The 25 celebrities that competed in the 2010 tournament were Catherine Bell, Lucas Black, Javier Colon, Don Felder, Thomas Gibson, Oliver Hudson, Rob Marciano, Branford Marsalis, Jennifer Mills, Terry OQuinn, Michael Pena, Jerry Rice, Jim Rice, George Rogers, Joe Don Rooney, Kurt Russell, Stefanie Schaeffer, Sterling Sharpe, Kevin Sorbo, Kordell Stewart, Dabo Swinney, Paula Trickey, Gary Valentine, Patrick Warburton and Ben Wright.
A record 99 charities will earn funds from the tournament, including a few from the local area. The list includes local nonprofits FENCE and Friends of Harmon Field. The Hickory Nut Gorge Olympiad is also a beneficiary again this year.
The BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation is the only tournament on the PGA TOURs Nationwide Tour where amateurs and celebrities are grouped with Nationwide Tour professionals in a four-day better-ball competition over three courses.
Amateurs, celebrities and pros rotate between three courses on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the 14 lowest scoring pro-amateur/pro-celebrity teams advancing to play Sundays final round at Thornblade Club.
Celebrities play once at each course on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The professional winner of the overall 72-hole event took home $108,000 from the total purse of $600,000.
Amateurs and celebrities competed for individual prizes and cash donations to the charity of their choice out of the beneficiaries selected by South Carolina Charities, Inc.
The first nine tournaments have raised nearly $7.3 million for 125+ area charities. The charities selected to benefit from the 2010 tournament are listed online at www.bmwcharitygolf.com. Money raised from the 2010 tournament will be announced in the coming months.
Look for pictures from this years BMW Charity Pro-Am in theBulletin later this week.
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