Photo by Adam Vogler
NASCAR driver and Emporia native Clint Bowyer speaks to the crowd before the start of the Clint Bowyer Invitational at the Emporia Municipal Golf Course on Tuesday. The golf tournament was part of the Clint Bowyer Support Emporia ’08 Charity Event.
Lucky for NASCAR fans, Clint Bowyer isn’t much of a golfer.
Then again, that didn’t stop the Emporia native from making a trip back to his hometown Tuesday to play a round at the Emporia Municipal Golf Course.
But this wasn’t your typical day at the course.
That’s because Bowyer, who is sitting fourth in the NASCAR Chase for the Cup standings after a victory at Richmond this past weekend, returned to his boyhood home to usher in the very first Clint Bowyer Charity Golf Invitational to raise money for the Emporia Community Foundation.
“I’m terrible at golf,” Bowyer said with a laugh. “But this is all about having a good time and raising a bunch of money to put into a good cause. It’s good to see a lot of familiar faces — friends and family that are here — and to just have a good day.”
It’s common practice for the drivers on the NASCAR circuit to put together a charity event every year, and while Bowyer admitted he had a hard time deciding on what type of charity event he would put together, one thing was always clear: He knew he wanted to hold the event in Emporia, for the people of Emporia.
“There was never any doubt where we were going to have this,” Bowyer said.
The goal behind the Clint Bowyer Charity Golf Tournament — and the dinner and auction that came with it — is to give money back to projects in Emporia, namely those assisting youth. While the early figures neared $150,000 raised — which included Bowyer matching the money that the auction brought in — Bowyer said until the final dollar amounts were realized, he would wait to name the specific projects the money would be used for, saying “that’s the neat thing about this foundation, is we can use the money anywhere.”
Photo by Adam Vogler
Clint Bowyer watches his drive on the fifth hole at the Clint Bowyer Invitational at the Emporia Municipal Golf Course on Tuesday.
Bowyer made it clear on Tuesday that he wanted the children growing up around the area to be the main beneficiaries of what he plans to become an annual charity event.
“Kids are first and foremost,” he said. “I really enjoyed growing up in Emporia. It’s still one of my favorite places to visit. It’s a tight-knit community, and it’s small-town America, and that’s what it’s all about. I’ve been given the opportunity to travel to a lot of different towns and cities and places in the world now, and I can’t think of a better place to grow up than right here in Emporia.
“Whatever needs done in the community to make this a better place to live and grow up in like I did — I had such a good younger life here — I want to be a part of it and I want to try to help.”
And while golf isn’t the name of his game, especially because he appears primed to make a run to his second straight appearance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Bowyer said coming back and touching base with his roots and helping with a good cause was more than worth a round at the course, no matter how ugly it might look from time to time.
“Life is so wild and hectic now, but it’s so nice to be able to come back here and enjoy a day like this,” Bowyer said. “This is something that I want to do over the long haul. You’ve got to start somewhere, and I think this is a good start.”
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Posted by timcann (anonymous) on May 7, 2008 at 6:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
right on clint keep up the good work and hope you win this week shame on the city for not puting a sign on the hi-way for you
Posted by tbone (anonymous) on May 8, 2008 at 10:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
hey - seriously this kid has put emporia on the map with a large population of nascar fans. Why is it such a big deal to put a sign up? We still tote the line of the 96 debate champions at ESU...come on emporia - figure it out...
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