Charity begins on the golf course at many area private clubs.

Byline: INSIDE THE OUTDOORS By Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

Six regulation 18-hole golf courses are located within a half-hour's drive of downtown Eugene. For most area golfers, however, fully half of those courses are usually off-limits because they are private clubs.

Among the private courses is the Eugene Country Club's beautiful Robert Trent Jones layout, considered by many to be among the best in the United States. Golf Digest, for example, last year ranked ECC No. 83 on its list of top 100 courses.

But you can play Eugene CC - and many other private courses - without becoming a member or being invited by a member. And help a good cause in the process.

Most private clubs host at least one charity golf tournament a year. And while corporate-sponsored foursomes account for the bulk of the entries in such events, charity tournaments are open to anyone with the entry fee.

Monday at Eugene Country Club, for example, Easter Seals Oregon will tee up its annual Send a Kid to Camp Invitational Golf Tournament. The event, with a $500 per-person entry fee, typically raises about $40,000 to send about 100 children with disabilities to summer camps, according to Debra Coakeswright of the state Easter Seals office.

In addition to the four-person scramble golf event, the entry fee includes a golf clinic, power carts, lots of prizes and "a fantastic buffet dinner," Coakeswright said.

Another advantage to entering charity golf events is that a portion of the entry fee can be treated as a tax-deductible contribution on state and federal income tax returns. In the case of the Easter Seals event, Coakeswright said, the write-off is about $300. For information on entering Monday's tournament, call her at [phone].

Another annual charity event at ECC is the Scouting Golf Classic, which raises funds to support Scouting programs in Western Oregon - including providing camping scholarships for children of needy families.

The 29th annual Scouting Classic will be Monday, Sept. 13, and will have a $200 entry fee.

Almost half of the Scouting Classic field is typically made up of individual golfers rather than company-sponsored teams, according to Tom McLennan of the BSA's regional office in Eugene.

"This is a play-your-own ball event, not a scramble, so a lot of serious golfers use it as an opportunity to play the Eugene Country Club," McLennan said. "If you're a non-member, you can play ECC as a guest only once or twice a year, and this doesn't count as one of those. A lot of guys see it as a real opportunity to kind of test themselves on what I think is probably the best course around."

The entry fee includes a catered lunch and dinner and lots of prizes. There are hole-in-one prizes on every par 3, including one for a new car and another for $10,000 in cash.

For registration details on this year's event, call McLennan at 284-4390.

Meanwhile, golfers have a trio of opportunities this year to test themselves at Shadow Hills Country Club, where top young professional golfers on the Nationwide Tour tee it up every September.

On Monday, July 12, the second annual Relief Nursery Golf Tournament will be held at Shadow Hills. The $125 fee includes lunch, dinner, cart and scramble-format golf - with the twist of an Oregon PGA pro assigned to play with each foursome.

The pros will compete against each other, while each foursome will be able to use a certain number of its pro's shots in compiling its score. For details or registration, contact Michelle Meador at 343-9706.

On Monday, Aug. 30, Shadow Hills will host the Children's Miracle Network's ninth annual CMN Golf Classic. The entry fee is $1,500 for a team of four, or $375 per individual. Proceeds go to help children at Sacred Heart Hospital. The entry fee, $200 of which is considered a charitable contribution, also includes admission to a dinner/auction on Friday, May 27. Registration details: 686-6456.

On Sept. 24, the Lane Community College Foundation will hold its 21st annual Golf Scramble, which raises money for student scholarships at LCC. Entry fees start at $900 for a four-person team, but individuals can contact the foundation "and we'll try to put together a team for them," said Barbara Enright, the foundation's fund-raising development assistant.

Meanwhile, over at Springfield Country Club, four charity events are on the calendar this season - starting with Friday's 11th Annual Mike Bellotti Golf Classic and Ultimate Tailgate Party, a benefit for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The $375 entry fee includes a "tailgate party" that starts at 5:30 p.m. today in the Club Room at Autzen. Former UO football players Wesly Mallard, Justin Peelle, Chad Cota, Dino Philyaw, Dave Wilcox, Mike Jorgensen, Josh Bidwell and Jack Crabtree will be auctioned off at the dinner to play as golf team members on Friday.

As of Tuesday, a few openings remained in the field, so call the MDA at 686-2753 if you want to jump in.

Northwest Christian College will raise funds for its sports program with a charity golf tournament scheduled for June 8 at Springfield CC. Contact Dave Lipp at 684-7226 for entry details.

McKenzie River Christian School will hold its third annual Danny O'Neill golf tournament on the Springfield private course on June 25. A foursome can enter for $360 by signing up before June 1, then the cost goes to $400. Individual entries are $100. The event, a fund-raiser for the school's transportation fund, includes a dinner after the competition, plus a chance to win lots of prizes - including a car by making a hole-in-one. To sign up, call Gayle Conklin at 895-0554.

Meanwhile, the newly remodeled Spring Hill Country Club just up Interstate 5 in Albany has four charity events scheduled.

They are: the Albany Chamber of Commerce Tournament on June 4 (contact Janet Steele, 541-926-1517); the Albany Firefighters Charity Golf Tournament on July 26 (contact Mark Matthews, 541-917-7700); the Linn-Benton Community College Foundation tournament on Sept. 10 (contact Paulette Myers, 541-917-4209) and the Bulldog/Rebel Classic Tournament Fund-raiser for high school athletic programs on Oct. 8 (contact Dennis Rector, 541-967-4545).

And if there's a private course in Salem, Portland or Bend that you've yearned to play, by all means give the pro shop there a call. Chances are they can tell you about a charity event that would welcome your play.

Mike Stahlberg can be reached at [e-mail].