PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem held a press conference at the Lightpath Long Island Classic on Wednesday, August 4 to announce that a historic milestone was reached in the tour's ongoing committment to charity.

After making an appearance in Flint, Michigan, the latest stop on the regular PGA Tour, Finchem arrived at Jericho's Meadow Brook Club, where the Senior Tour is currently stationed, to declare that as of this week, the PGA has reached the $500 million mark in charitable donations.

"With half a billion dollars raised for charity and with 90 percent of our tournaments organized for charity purposes, it's clear that charity has become really a part of the fabric of the PGA Tour. It's part of our mission," said Finchem.

Finchem said that the PGA's history of charitable endeavors dates back to 1938, when a check for $10,000 was given away to charity at the Palm Beach Invitational.

The regular PGA Tour, which passed the $1 million mark in charitable contributions in 1950, is responsible for the majority of funds raised over the years. However, in the last 10 years the Senior PGA Tour and the Nike Tour together have raised nearly $90 million. Virtually every tournament in these two tours was organized with a charitable purpose in mind.

"So today, in 1999, we have 130-some events that we have on our tours...where 100 percent of the net profits go to charity," said Finchem.

The commissioner praised the work of the millions of tournament volunteers who have ensured the smooth operation of the PGA's events. He also applauded the players because, "in this sport, unlike any others, the players themselves run the sport...and the players have always supported the notion that we leave significant amounts of money in communities where we play."

In announcing the $500 million mark, the PGA is not even counting all of the money raised individually by professional golfers who run their own separate charity tournaments. "I would say that if you add it up, the amount of money that's been raised by players during their own tournaments [would] probably be another 100 million dollars," said Finchem.

The charitable cause benefitting from the Lightpath Long Island Classic is Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park. Lightpath Tournament Director Jack Russell introduced two children, Matthew Young and Michael Ambaciani, who both successfully underwent treatment at the hospital.

"These two youngsters are healthy today because of the great work that our friends at Schneider Children's Hospital does for them. And if you look in their beautiful faces, you will see that there are millions of other youngsters around the country that are being helped by our charity," said Russell.

Russell, who also is chairman of the Senior PGA Tour Tournament Association, was especially pleased that the PGA's announcement happened to fall during his own tournament, because it gave him the chance to personally thank all of the Lightpath volunteers for their contributions.

"Many of the volunteers who work in our tournament tell us that they do so because they have a grandchild, a child or neighbor's child who has been helped by Schneider Children's Hospital and by these hospitals around the country," said Russell.

Senior Pro Dana Quigley represented the players at the press conference. "It's so important that we as golfers on the Senior Tour make all this money for charity, because I think we're probably the only professional sport that is for a charitable cause," Quigley said.

Quigley won the Northville Long Island Classic - his first Senior Tour victory - in 1997. Part of his obligation in winning the tournament was to return to Jericho in June of 1998 for the Long Island Classic's Media Day.

"Players sometimes dread a little bit coming back to Media Day," admitted Quigley. "It's usually in the middle of the season and you have to fly across the country to get here. But when Jack [Russell] took me down to the Schneider hospital, and I gave a bunch of kids putting lessons...to see the happiness in these kids' faces, I'll do that the rest of my life," Quigley continued.

"To see the children and the...joy in their faces and to help them get healed from their diseases is a much warmer feeling than you can get from winning any golf tournament."