PLANT CITY, FL — The Plant City Optimist Club and the Plant City Parks & Recreation Department hosted their 29th Annual Golf Classic fundraiser tournament at Diamond Hill Golf & Country Club in Dover on Friday.
The shotgun-start tournament to raise money for youth programs in Plant City began at 8 a.m., preceded by driving range access.
The 2023 event had 25 teams of four players each on the course for a round of fellowship supporting a good cause. Just before the start of the event, Plant City Optimist Club President Pat Stottlemyer presented a check to Mary Heysek, president/CEO of the United Food Bank of Plant City, to help support their youth feeding program. Another check was presented to the Friends of Recreation & Parks Corp., a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting the youth programs of the Plant City Parks & Recreation Department. That check was received by FORP
Director Jack Holland.
Dixie Maintenance was the third-place team with a round of 56. Both SK Realty and Floyd Hall Memorial tied for first place at 55, with Floyd Hall Memorial winning the tiebreaker.
Additionally, the winners of the two closest to the pin contests were Bubba Hall and Sang Vanvorang. The winners of the two longest-drive contests were Mike Schmidt and Bubba Watts.
Several of the cash award winners noted above donated their winnings back to the club.
Many other prizes were raffled off using tickets purchased by the players.
The Plant City Optimist Club has been involved with local youth programs since it formed in 1962. In addition to an annual contribution to the Plant City-based nonprofit Friends of Recreation & Parks, which supports youth programs and facilities for the community, volunteer and financial assistance is also given annually to the Parks & Recreation Department for activities such as its youth flag football, basketball and soccer programs as well as the annual citywide Easter egg hunt, Monster Mash Trunk or Treat event and various sports skills competitions.
The club also hosts an annual Youth Appreciation Dinner to recognize eight outstanding seniors from Plant City High School, along with an Oratorical Contest, a Respect for Law event for at-risk middle school students, and the club provides at least $6,000 in scholarships each year for both college-bound graduates and those graduates seeking additional certifications or training to go directly into the workforce.
Other programs such as Plant City High School athletics, the Plant City Family YMCA and the United Food Bank of Plant City also benefit from annual club support.
The club’s two fundraisers to support its community programs are the annual golf tournament and the sale of Christmas trees each year in front of Plant City High School.
Optimist International is one of the world’s largest service club organizations with over 80,000 adult and youth members in nearly 3,000 clubs in over 20 countries.
Carrying the motto “Bringing Out the Best in Kids,” Optimists conduct positive service projects that reach more than six million young people each year.
For more information about the Plant City Optimist Club or the golf tournament, contact Club President Pat Stottlemyer at president@plantcityoptimistclub.org or 813-494-9615.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
