Gilroy
– It’s June and Jeff Garcia is in town, which can only mean one
thing: The Jeff Garcia Invitational Golf Tournament is here.
The tournament, which benefits the Gavilan and Gilroy High
football programs, kicks off Saturday at Gilroy Golf Club with
registration at 11am and a shotgun start at noon.
Gilroy – It’s June and Jeff Garcia is in town, which can only mean one thing: The Jeff Garcia Invitational Golf Tournament is here.
The tournament, which benefits the Gavilan and Gilroy High football programs, kicks off Saturday at Gilroy Golf Club with registration at 11am and a shotgun start at noon.
“We’re pretty excited about it,” said Gavilan football coach John Lango, who has been working with GHS football coach Darren Yafai to organize the event since April. “You know what’s interesting is Jeff is a big community guy and just for the community to step up and help has been overwhelming.”
Lango said the six-person scramble tournament is filled just about to capacity with over 100 golfers taking part.
Though this year’s tournament is a scaled-down version of events in past years and has a new location, Lango said it’s still garnered interest from past attendees. “After word got out about it and people understood it was the same tournament but at a different location, it filled up pretty quickly,” he said.
Garlic City legend Garcia, now with the Detroit Lions, will definitely be in attendance, but the status of other celebrity guests is still up in the air. Yafai said there’s still the possibility that 49ers quarterback Tim Rattay and linebacker and Morgan Hill native Jeff Ulbrich will show.
Lunch will be provided on the course and a chicken and tri-tip dinner will follow the round, catered by the course’s Gilroy Cafe.
An auction and raffle will follow the dinner. Items up for grabs include Jeff Garcia art by painter Jeff Dennis, autographed helmets, jerseys and other memorabilia.
Lango said there will also be several contests where prizes will be awarded, including jack pot putting, closest to the pin and longest drive. Prizes range from a gift certificate to Gilroy’s Happy Dog Cafe to golf items donated by the Gilroy Golf Course pro shop.
Lango, who’s been busy fielding requests for tickets, which went for $125 each, and securing tee sponsorships, said he’s not sure how much money the tournament will raise.
“Darren and I have talked and said that whether it’s $5 or $5,000, anything helps the programs,” Lango said. “Turnout has been awesome. And we’re ready for it next year.”
