Iredell Health Foundation Announces 12th Annual Golf Tournament

The Iredell Health Foundation is excited to once again host its annual Iredell Memorial Community Golf Classic, scheduled for May 18 & 19, 2023, at Statesville Country Club.

Proceeds from the event support The Institute for Nursing Excellence at Iredell Health System, a fund that covers the cost of nursing educational programs for employees of the organization. More than 500 nurses have utilized the fund in the past for continued education, specialty certifications, clinical and leadership development. The annual golf tournament is the primary source of funding for these programs.

As an added bonus for participants, this year Jeff Crittenden, world long drive champion, will be raising the stakes at a designated hole, where you’ll be able to have him take your drive shot. Crittenden began playing golf in college and several years later decided to make a career of it and became a professional golfer. He has played professionally and won several mini-tours. He has also taught golf for such companies as Grand Cypress Academy of Golf, Swing the Thing Golf Schools, Precision Golf Schools, ESPN Golf Schools, and Golf Digest Golf Schools where he worked with some of the most prestigious names in golf instruction – Hank Haney, Fred Griffin, Rick McCord, Ed Bowe, and Dick Farley.

In 2006, Jeff realized he had a true talent for strength and distance in golf and decided to try his hand at long drive. In long drive, he quickly found his calling and within a year was competing professionally around the country and around the world just a few years later. Currently, Crittenden competes in fourteen or more long drive events per year. He also performs 25 or more exhibition and trick shot shows per year. It’s his job to hit the golf ball as far and as hard as possible while remaining within a very specific grid. In 2019, at the age of 48, Jeff won his second (2017 & 2019) World Long Drive (WLD) Masters Division Championship in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

The 2023 tournament will consist of two flights – one the afternoon of May 18, and another the morning of May 19. The tournament promises be one of the most popular golf events of the season in Statesville, and space is limited. Registration will be open until sold out or by April 19, 2023.

Both playing and nonplaying sponsorships are available. To become a sponsor or learn more about participating in the tournament, visit IredellGolfclassic.org, or contact Kim Hussey, Foundation Assistant, at [email protected] or (704) 878-7669.