"Golfing For Inclusion" Tournament, Auction A Big Success

From reports of people who were at the Golfing For Inclusion Tournament and the auction that evening, the entire tournament was a big success and brought in some big dollars for The Bubel Aiken Foundation.

Clay made the rounds during the tournament, chatting and taking pictures with the golfers. Most of the golfers did not go into the tournament as Clay fans. I think that changed for at least some of them once the tournament was over. Janiepain at The Clayboard tells us the following about her husband:

We just got home a little while ago, and all the way home my husband was calling his brother, and our kids telling them what a great guy Clay was and what a wonderful golf tournament he put on. You'd have to know my hubby to know this is BIG....he really is a true fan now. He has played in other golf tournnaments--a few years ago he played with Brian Hill, former coach of the Orlando Magic. I asked if he was as approachable as Clay and he said "not even close". He had his pics taken with Brian Hill, but Clay literally was "out and about" with the players all day.

Sally and Sharon at the Tournament sent messages from the tournament. Here is one about a non-fan who was impressed with Clay:

The gals are on their way back to their winter home and said it was probably going to be the highlight of their lives. It was worth every penny. Sally said a young 30'ish golfer (non-fan before today) told Sharon that Clay was fantastic. He said there is nobody out there quite like him. A woman at their table broke down and cried when Clay sang Unchained Melody. This was not a Clay crowd by any means, but I have a feeling they left as fans. Both of the man and the singer. Clay really worked the crowd and boy, do we know he can do that.

Tiffy52winkle at The Clayboard posted a recap from 2old4Clay at Clayversity. Here is part of that recap:

As we waited for all the golfers to return we were helping ourselves to the wonderful tables of food. They had a few chefs on hand making up some fresh pasta dishes also. During that time we able to view all the silent auction items and put in our bids.

They gave out the golf awards, those of which I know nothing about, except the people who joined our table came in 3rd with their score, and then another lady I met Sally (her sister Sharon was sending recaps over to the CB all day) won a poker tournament by drawing cards for a fee and seeing what kind of hand you come up with. I guess those that are familiar with this might understand it better than I.

Jerry Aiken spoke to open up the evening discussing the foundation and then introduced Bob Ferrone who told us about a man born with Downs Syndrome, Marty Sheets, who has accomplished so much in his life, one thing being named the PGA Volunteer of the Year in 2006. He is a National Special Olympics Champion and a golfer. I really can't remember all the things this man has accomplished but it is amazing. We all gave him a standing ovation when Mr. Ferrone was finished telling us of his life.

Then Diane Bubel spoke a little about her connection with Clay through her son and how the foundation was started.

After that Clay spoke also giving some history and introducing the video. This was the same video that was played at the Raleigh Gala I believe. But Aron was having a lot of problems with it, it would start and break up and then play and then he would start it over. Because of that Clay came up on stage and started to sing to give Aron some time to get the video going, that is when he sang I Can't Make You Love Me. Then back to the video....again it played for a minute or two and then froze up. So Clay I think then sang At This Moment. They finally gave up on the video, which was sort of disappointing because that really tells the story of what the Foundation is all about, it would have helped for the NJU people to have seen it in it's entirety.

Then the auction started, with Jerry Aiken trying to be the auctioneer and not having much success at anyone bidding, so Wayne Player got up and helped Jerry continue with the auction.

At the end of the auction, Clay said he had used up all his songs..he was only going to do a few and he already sang two... so people were making requests. He only did parts of a couple because I don't think impromptu was working well for the piano guy Ben Cohen. He didn't know the melody to When A Man Loves A Woman and so they were both 'winging' it in a way. Love of my Life was requested and they played with that a little too, but then he sang Get Here and Unchained Melody which was good ole Clay singing perfection IMO.

From people at the auction who called into The Clayboard, I have the following winning bids for auction items. Obviously there were other items for auction, but these are the only ones I have information about the final bid price.

• Cruise for ? (possibly 8?) - $900
• Dinner For 2 With Clay and a Horse and Carriage Ride in New York - $20,000 (Note: This turned into two Dinners For 2 With Clay and the Carriage Ride, 2 tickets to Spamalot and a backstage pass...a total of $40,000!!
• Trip to The Masters Tournament - $9,500

This was the "first annual" golf tournament, and since it was such a success, no doubt there will be more tournaments to come. Better get those golf clubs out and start practicing. You have one year to work on that swing!