Dr. Tom Kim hosting 9th Annual Charity Golf Tournament
Dr. Tom Kim invites Knoxville area golfers to join him Wednesday, Sept. 20, for a round at Egwani Farms Golf Course. That’s the venue for the ninth installment of the tournament that bears his name.
The Dr. Tom Kim Charity Golf Tournament was launched in 2009 and has become the main fund-raising event each year for The Free Medical Clinic of America, which Dr. Kim founded 24 years ago. The clinic provides health care for uninsured working adults in Knox and surrounding counties. Eligible patients pay nothing for the treatment they receive. To cover its operating costs, the clinic depends on tournament proceeds and donations from individuals, businesses and other charitable organizations.
Participants in the tournament, a best-ball event, will receive breakfast, lunch (from Buddy’s Bar-B-Q and McAlister’s Deli), beverages and snacks, along with a gift bag of valuable merchandise and a quality embroidered golf shirt. They can also compete for prizes, including the $25,000 grand prize, a 2017 Kia Sportage SUV from Rusty Wallace Kia, for making a hole-in-one on the designated Par 3. Lesser prizes will go to players making a hole-in-one on any other Par 3.
Other prizes will be awarded to members of the top three teams and winners of several contests – longest-drive, putting and closest-to-the-pin on at least three of the Par 3s.
The tournament planning committee has added a new contest this year, the Point Blank Challenge. For $5, players will get three shots at a target. If they hit any part of the target area, they win a prize, with the top prize going to the player who comes closest to hitting the bullseye.
A drawing will be held for additional prizes.
Players will also have the opportunity to purchase a signed copy of Dr. Kim’s recently published cookbook, “Eat Half and Move.” The book costs $20 and may be purchased with cash, check or charge card.
One of the most popular features in recent years has been the AR15 rifle that the Knox County Sheriff’s Department has retrofitted to fire golf balls. It will be available again this year. For $5, players get one shot, which can serve as their tee shot on the hole.
A host of sponsorship opportunities are still available, including Presenting, $5,000; Green Fee, $3,500; Corporate, from $1,000 to $2,500; Contest, $500; Team, $500; Beverage and Snack, $250; and Hole, $100 per hole or $200 for exclusive sponsorship of a specific hole. Individual players ($125) are welcome; they will be grouped with other singles to form foursomes.
Player check-in runs from 7 to 8 a.m., with a group photo at 8, player instructions at 8:15 and shotgun start at 8:30.
To guarantee receiving a golf shirt, teams and players must sign up no later than Aug. 31. All participants and sponsors who register by Sept. 15 will be accepted.
To register or to get more information about the tournament, go to www.freemedicalclinic.net and click on Charity Golf Tournament at the top or bottom of the home page and follow the prompts. Fees may be mailed to the clinic at 6209 Chapman Hwy., Knoxville, TN 37920 or charged using the PayPal service on the web site.
To speak with a tournament official, call clinic office manager Peggy Coley at (865) 577-3733 or (865) 579-1515 or tournament chairman Wade Saye at (865) 777-1490.
