Whether you’re a golfer or not, a family evening of food, fun and relaxation is always a good way to end the summer. And if you do have a passion for the game, you’ll want to play a round the next morning in Joe’s annual golf classic. If it involves golf, Joe’s done it. President of the Professional Golf Association (PGA), PGA Tournament Director, Pro Golfer, PGA Treasurer, and Rules Committee Official for the PGA and the Master’s Tournament, he’s looking for a good crowd at the 19th annual Joe Black Golf Classic, Friday, Aug. 8.

Black led the Hardin-Simmons University golf team to a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics title in 1953, and joined the PGA tour in 1955. A 1982 Texas Golf Hall of Fame inductee, he is credited with placing the PGA in the solid financial position it now enjoys. He established the Joe Black Golf Endowment at HSU in 1989, and organized the Joe Black Golf Classic to raise funds for the University golf program.

Join HSU, and media sponsors KRBC and the Abilene Reporter-News, on the evening of Aug. 7, in a community-wide event for families as they host an evening of food, soft drinks, dance/cheer teams, musical entertainment, free school supplies, inflatables, and the HSU Six White Horses. Whether fueling for the following day’s golf or having a last outdoor night before the start of the Summer Olympics, you’ll want to bring the kids to the front lawn of the HSU campus from 5 to 8 p.m. Family night is free and open to the public.

Friday’s tournament, scheduled at the Fairway Course of the Abilene Country Club, is a 4 or 5-person scramble, but individual players may still register and will be placed with a team. The tourney features a par three “Hole-in-One Prize Bonanza” sponsored by Lawrence Hall Chevrolet. For hole four that means a seven-day cruise. A hole-in-one on eight nets a set of irons, an ace on 11 lands a brand new Chevy, and the prize for hole 16 is $500 worth of merchandise.

The entry fee of $125 includes greens fees, cart, unlimited range balls, prizes, hot breakfast, on-course soft drinks and a full buffet lunch following play.

A recent inductee into the HSU Hall of Leaders, Joe Black is not only a legend in the golfing community, but a selfless mentor and leader. In the 1962 Portland Open, he penalized Jack Nicklaus two strokes for slow play. After the game, he asked Nicklaus to join him in the clubhouse so he could explain what was slowing his game. Nicklaus mentions, in one of his books, that Black’s action that day was one of the best things that ever happened to him.

This year, Joe Black has donated rare PGA and golf memorabilia for silent auction. Items include:

A signed poster of past Ryder Cup captains

A signed Ryder Cup team poster from 2004

A pin flag from the 1994 PGA championship signed by winner Nick Price.

A framed photo of cowboy golfers Ed Smith and Jeff Weiss playing in Arizona during the early 1900’s. Their horses wait in the background as they drive down the fairway. Dean Beman, Commissioner of the PGA Tour, saw the print hanging in Joe’s office and asked for a copy. It still hangs in the Tour Headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida as a priceless artifact of the early days of golf in the American West.

Any golf aficionado may bid, and items are on display at joeblack.hsutx.edu or http://www.hsutx.edu/alumni/joeblack.aspx . Bidders need not be entered in the tournament and may email bids to HSU golf coach David Sherman at dsherman@hsutx.edu . Bidding will close at noon on Aug. 8.

A number of sponsorships at various levels are still available that net great exposure and exclusive inside action. Call Dennis Harp at 670-1467 to show your organization’s support for collegiate golf.

The Joe Black Classic is open to the public and reservations may be made by contacting David Sherman, HSU’s head men’s and women’s golf coach at 670-1374.