News
Ortiz hitting the links for charity
Red Sox slugger hosting second annual golf tournament
By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com
11/17/09 12:01 PM EST
For the second consecutive year, David Ortiz will give a little back while playing a little golf.The Red Sox slugger will host a celebrity golf tournament Dec. 3-6 at the prestigious Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic. And fans who can't make it all the way to the Caribbean can still help out.
The event will have an online auction at www.davidortizcelebritygolfclassic.com. Those logging on through Dec. 4 will be able to bid on gifts ranging from two tickets to the sold-out NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park on New Year's Day to a chance to attend the Red Sox's home opener against the defending World Series champion Yankees.
The auction will benefit the David Ortiz Children's Fund, which provides children in New England and the Dominican Republic access to pediatric critical care.
The inaugural David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic raised more than $300,000 in an event that featured several Major League superstars and other Boston sports legends.
This time around, Ortiz is expected to be joined by the likes of Torii Hunter, Alex Rodriguez, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero, Clay Buchholz, Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester and Terry Francona, among others.
The event is scheduled for Dec. 3-6 and is held at the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course Punta Espada. Guests will stay at the five-star Sanctuary Cap Cana Golf & Spa.
"I wasn't born having what I've got right now," Ortiz said before last year's event. "I know how bad people struggle sometimes, needing things that maybe they can never ever get unless somebody like myself or any other athlete puts it together and helps them out. That's one of the things that I always think about every day. If I can help people out that way, I will. Sometimes you have to sacrifice to do it, but it's worth it. It's really worth it."
Other items participants in the auction can bid on include: a four-night Costa Rican vacation, a taping of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien," a Dominican getaway, a Jonas Brothers-signed Yankees jersey, the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game, a six-night stay in the exclusive island Mustique, a trip to Florida to watch two Red Sox Spring Training games, a party with Ortiz at Big Papi's Grille, a guitar autographed by the Jonas Brothers as well as Ortiz and several other notable names, backstage passes to a Dane Cook stand-up comedy show and a tour of the Callaway Golf Performance Center in California as well as a set of custom clubs.
Alden Gonzalez is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
