CORPORATE VENTURA CHIPS IN; GOLF BOOSTS CHARITIES.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

If not for the open-necked polo shirts, Monday's lunch on the terrace overlooking the links at the Spanish Hills Golf and Country Club could have been a corporate meeting.

But the 120 corporate executives, real estate brokers, developers and business owners converged on the championship 6,749-yard course to tee off for charity - a practice that is becoming more and more popular in Ventura County and elsewhere.

``We've hosted about 20 charity tournaments this year, including a number of premier tournaments. Boys and Girls clubs, Muscular Dystrophy, the Cancer Society, the Heart Association - they all had tournaments here,'' said Debra Moates, director of catering and tournaments at the private Spanish Hills course. ``They've learned that it's an effective way to target the corporate community for support.''

Nonprofit organizations have discovered that through golf they can target an affluent and generous group eager to get out of the office for a day and whack a few balls for a good cause. According to research conducted by the National Golf Foundation, a business and marketing group, golfers earn higher-than-average incomes, and about 50 percent work in professional or management positions.

Ventura County, with 14 private and public courses, attracts players to dozens of charity tournaments each year, racking up thousands of dollars for nonprofit causes. Nationwide, the practice is also on the rise, and the National Golf Foundation estimates that about 35,000 amateur charity golf tournaments earned nonprofits $250 million last year.

In response to the trend, the foundation has even authored a primer titled ``Fund Raising With Golf: Organizing and Conducting a Successful Fund-Raising Golf Event.''

Large nonprofits have taken note as well.

``Although dinner events and black-tie events are still popular, we're always looking for new and innovative ways to fund-raise, and one way that's come to the fore is golf,'' said Todd Rosin, director of communications for United Way of Greater Los Angeles. ``And we're certainly working that trend.'

In fact, the United Way is hosting its inaugural celebrity charity golf tournament Aug. 11 at Lake Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

Monday's tournament had all the trappings of a distinctly California-style event, with dozens of casually dressed players warming up on the practice green or grazing at a breakfast buffet.

The day began with the breakfast, followed by several money-raising contests, including a putting challenge. Next came a lunch, followed by 18 holes of golf on the sprawling Robert Cupp-designed course.

``I'm a terrible golfer, but I do it for the fun of it. I quit worrying about the scores years ago,'' said Dick Spencer, president of Channel Islands Bank, who had his morning cup of coffee in the dining room overlooking the course's rolling hills.

``It's what the proceeds go for that's important, and I'd much rather do this than go to a black-tie dinner,'' he said. ``Hell, I have to wear a tie every day, and it doesn't matter what color it is, it still chokes you to death.''

Most of the 115 men and five women players had the light step and exuberance of type-A personalities playing hookey.

``It's an opportunity to play golf and a good excuse to get out,'' said Clancy McAuliffe, who owns a rental car franchise in Santa Maria, about two hours north of the course. McAuliffe has played in a dozen charity tournaments so far this year and estimates that he donates $10,000 to $12,000 - about 10 percent of his income - to charity each year. Much of that he donates through golf tournaments.

``The tournaments are so much fun,'' he added. ``I'm not here seriously trying to win. It's about spending money for a good cause. I come with a pocketful of cash with the intention of spending it all,'' he said.

The entry fee for Monday's tournament was $375, with the proceeds benefiting Casa Pacifica, the nonprofit organization that provides shelter, medical care, counseling and educational services to children scarred by abuse and neglect.

Casa Pacifica's annual operating budget is about $5 million, said Tanya Gonzales, its director of fund development and public affairs. Eighty-five percent of costs are paid by state and federal money, but the organization is charged with earning the remaining 15 percent - close to $700,000 - through fund raising.

The golf tournament was expected to raise $50,000.

The $375 price is the minimum price though, and several businesses paid $1,250 to $2,500 to play. The title sponsor, ATT, which gets top billing on all publicity material, paid $10,000 for four executives to play.

``Many people think of our Angels Ball, which costs $300 per person, as the best social event in Ventura County,'' said Gonzales of Casa Pacifica. ``But this is our high-end fund-raiser. We've targeted the businessmen and women who are leaders in this community.

``They have to be the leaders,'' she said. ``Not many others can afford to take a day off work and pay $375 to play golf.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color in SIMI edition only) Businessmen and businesswomen get set for the shotgun start of the Care for Kids Golf Classic at Spanish Hills Golf and Country Club.

(2--ran in SIMI only) A parade of golf carts winds down a hill for the start of the charity event to help abused, neglected and at-risk children.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News