UCP of Central Maryland Holds Another Successful Golf Tournament

Golf Committee Chair,
Chip Hurley (red sweater)
poses with his foursome and
D.J. Gregory (center)
before teeing off on hole #10.

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Central Maryland recently held its 5^th Annual UCP Golf Classic and raised $30,000. A portion of the proceeds will help to purchase a Youth Up n' Go Walker, a much needed piece of physical therapy equipment for the affiliate's Delrey School, which serves children ages 2 to 21 throughout central Maryland.

This year, presented by Stephen L. Snyder & Family, there were 20 teams including 79 golfers. Attendees at the day-long event enjoyed 18 holes of golf, breakfast, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, lunch, a live auction, awards sponsored by Nike Golf and a 50/50 raffle where proceeds were split evenly between the winner and affiliate. Golfers also had the opportunity to meet and listen to D.J. Gregory, nationally recognized for walking every hole of every round of every PGA Tour event in 2008, despite having cerebral palsy and being told at a young age that he would never walk. Gregory's walks have spanned 44 tournaments in 45 weeks, more than 180 rounds, 3,256 holes and 988 miles.

Congratulations to tournament winners (l to r)
Perry Snyder; Michael Snyder,
UCP board member; Scott Snyder,
and presenting sponsor Stephen Snyder.

Adaptability was the strength of this year's event. According to Lauren Magee of UCP of Central Maryland, "This year we were worried about not getting enough golfers to fulfill our contract with the golf course. So, to keep our golfer numbers up we enticed them with a three-for-one deal up front — four golfers for $1,500 (one free golfer for each team). I think this adjustment contributed to our success. In fact, some past sponsors who originally said they wouldn't be able to afford the tournament this year were actually able to after we dropped our prices. They couldn't participate as sponsors, but they could still participate as golfers. Having DJ Gregory attend and speak was beneficial to our overall tournament by creating a buzz and providing perspective for our golfers and awareness of our cause."

Special guest, D.J. Gregory,
talks about his life experiences
with cerebral palsy and personal stories
of the professional golfers
he met on the PGA Tour.

This event did not come without its share of challenges in the current economic environment. According to Magee, "Our biggest challenge this year was getting event sponsors. A lot of our core sponsors had to drop out this year due to their own company budget cuts. We also had a hard time with our live auction. With today's economy it was harder to not only get donated items, but to get people to spend the money and bid on them. To help off-set our expected loss in auction revenue we decided to add incentive by explaining that all money raised from the auction would go towards the purchase of a specific piece of equipment that costs $3,000. Without that, our auction would have only raised $1,250. But, because that piece of equipment really appealed to a certain golfer that person donated the difference."

UCP of Central Maryland gratefully thanks all participants and volunteers for making this year's event such a success.

Tip for Affiliates

"Understand that with today's economy, planning an event will be difficult, but if you have the budget, still do it. Just re-adjust your goals. Anticipate where your losses may be and try to plan around them. The $30,000 that we raised through this event was less than last year, but it's still better than not raising any money at all by not having the event. And, it creates an opportunity to get out in the community and connect with your donors." - Lauren Magee.

For more information, please visit the UCP of Central Maryland Web site or contact Lauren Magee at (410) 484-4540