Recap: Oakwood4HOPE Celebrity Golf Classic In San Diego To Benefit Hope2gether
This past weekend San Diego was the gracious host of the Oakwood4HOPE Celebrity Golf Classic Tournament, a two day event presented by Oakwood Escrow and featuring many local celebrities such as Pete Shaw (former NFL San Diego Chargers and New York Giants player), Charlie Joiner (former wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers and an NFL player who starred in eighteen professional footballs seasons), Jesse Kovacs (Bachelorette Season 5, and Bachelor Pad Season 1), just to name a few.
The event benefited Hope2gether, a non-profit foundation aiming to educate and raise awareness about the perils of prescription drugs. Hope2gether was founded by couple Sherrie and Michael Rubin whose son Aaron overdosed on oxycontin in 2005 and while he survived the three and a half weeks of coma, the overdose left him quadriplegic and unable to speak. In 2009 Sherrie Rubin began speaking at schools warning students and parents about prescription pills, drugs and the tremendous consequences of misusing and abusing these drugs. She also serves on the executive committee of the San Diego Prescription Pill Task Force. Hope2gether provides prescription drug presentations independently, and jointly, with the Sheriffs Department, the DEA, the San Diego Prescription Pill Task Force, and both public and private coalitions.
With that in mind, the event was kicked off by a Friday night Celebrity Red Carpet Meet And Greet at the PowerHouse Venue in Del Mar, hosted by the beautiful Cindy Matalucci, founder of The Pulse, a San Diego-based event coverage and video marketing company, and Wes Chandler, NFL Hall of Fame inductee for the San Diego Chargers. The evening featured a hosted bar, scrumptious hors d’oeuvres, a Brazilian Beachwear Fashion Show, a DJ, live entertainment, live and silent auctions and a live dance show by the Party Fitness Girls. The auctions aimed to raise money for Hope2gether by bidding off quite a few cool items such as tickets to the American Music Awards, Eric Weddle signed football, Wes Chandler signed football, MLB sports package (signed baseballs by Brett Boone, Chris Denorfia, Ryan Dempster and Starlin Castro), a Napa vacation, a private yacht party and so on.
On Saturday, the golf tournament took place at the Carmel Mountain Ranch Golf Club. This golf course has previously hosted both the U.S. Open qualifying and the San Diego Open qualifying, as well as many prestigious local events. The course is said to be a true shot maker’s course with elevation changes, strategic choices and fast undulating greens. The day started with a catered breakfast at the beautiful Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club, followed by a putting contest for valuable rewards. Following a shotgun start at 11am every foursome had the pleasure of playing with an invited celebrity; among the thirty celebrities we noted Andre Reed (former NFL wide receiver for Bills), Jesse Kovacs, Christopher Knight (Peter Brady on the Brady Bunch), and Willie Buchanan (NFL Hall Of Fame). The tournament concluded with an awards reception and gourmet dinner.
All in all, a great event for a great cause!