[07/24/02]JACKSON Golf is a sport that can reduce even the most mild mannered sportsman to pull his hair out in frustration.

How refreshing that in the Southern Farm Bureau Classic, everyone is a winner.

Birdies For Charity will team with the Southern Farm Bureau Classic for a four-day tournament in late October in Madison for one of the richest payoffs in sports the gift of charity.

Names like John Daly, Lee Janzen and Tom Kite will line up their tees for a shot at a $ 2.6 million purse, with the winner receiving $468,000. The better the winners do, the better charities will do..

Birdies For Charity involves local charities “to go out and ask people to pledge a penny or more for every birdie made by our professional golfers at our tournament,” Birdies For Charity Operations Director Travis Trumbo said.

More than 1,600 birdies were made in last year’s tournament, making Birdies For Charity a can’t-miss-deal for any charity, school, or church that is looking to raise money, as long as they are a 501-C3 charity that can deduct it on their taxes, Trumbo said.

“They receive a hundred percent of the proceeds, but don’t have to do any of the footwork,” Trumbo said. “We paid for everything, we did all the billing, we did all the collecting, and after three billing cycles we’ve gotten 92 percent of everyone to pay.”

Over $1.9 million have been given to charity organizations over the past 15 years, and the Mississippi 4-H Foundation scored $10,000 last year.

“If the charity has a volunteer force of 100 each getting 10 penny pledges, the charity would receive $16,750,” Tournament Director Steve Hutton said.

With one stroke the tournament can help an organization in need.

“Last year we participated in the Birdies For Charity program,” said Earline Jones Ramsey, founder of the Derrick Jones Burn Foundation. “It was our first time, however, we were able to increase the quality of our program as well as financially helping burn victims that were burned at the fire in Vicksburg’s rubber plant and several other plants.”

Charities and local organizations are not the only ones that benefit from Birdies For Charity. The Classic has the ability to pull in 100,000 spectators annually and score the state about $10 million in the local economy, officials said.

“We are not only the only PGA tour in all of Mississippi,” Trumbo said, “we are the only professional sporting event in all of Mississippi.”

Interested charities should call Trumbo at 800-856-9290.