ASHLAND — Mother Nature may have delayed the start of the Team Focus Celebrity Golf Tournament, but she couldn’t douse the enthusiasm for the event as it celebrated its 20th birthday.
Friday’s scheduled 10 a.m. tee time was pushed back by a strong storm that rumbled through the area, but the mood was still festive under the pavilion at Ashland Golf Club as participants waited out the rain.
“This event has expanded over all these years, but it’s been a labor of love,” said Kip Matteson, who along with Warren Jones has organized all 20 outings. “There’s a lot of work, but I’ve met so many great people. It’s truly been a blessing.”
Team Focus is a mentoring and outreach program for fatherless boys and young men. It was founded in 2000 by Crestline native Mike Gottfried and his wife, Mickey, and celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.
The program is especially meaningful to Matteson.
“I was raised by a single mother, so it’s close to my heart,” Matteson said. “It’s a wonderful cause and I’m proud to play a small part in it.”
There were 29 four-person teams entered in the scramble.
This year’s celebrity roster included former Browns running back Greg Pruitt and former Ohio State stars Mike Doss, Michael Wiley and Dane Sanzenbacher.
“We’ve been able to bring in a lot of celebrities from different walks of life over the years,” Jones said. “We’ve been blessed.”
Former Ashland High School standout and Ohio State golfer Tyler Sabo was also among the celebrities teeing it up Friday.
“It’s a great program,” Sabo said. “I’m glad I can be a part of it.”
Proceeds from the event go primarily to the Ohio chapter of Team Focus. The program, which has chapters in Alabama and Kentucky, offers several services to enrollees.
“We take children and young men without a male figure in the household and we educate them on life. We teach them life skills,” Ohio chapter director and Crestline native Rocky Alt said.
“If our kids are involved in extra-curricular actives, we have a group of guys who go to their football games or basketball games or spelling bees.”
Like Gottfried, Alt lost his father at a young age.
“Mike and I coached together and when I got out of coaching he started (Team Focus),” Alt said. “He asked me to get involved because my father died when I was young, too, just like Mike’s father died when he was young.
“I’ve enjoyed being a part of it ever since.”