10th annual Gene Upshaw Memorial Classic to bring athletic greats to Truckee

Submitted by paula on Tue, 07/03/2018 - 8:32pm
Event Date: 
July 8, 2018 (All day)

NFL Hall of Famers, former Major League Baseball players, other sports and entertainment celebrities will gather July 8-9 at Schaffer's Mill Golf Club in Truckee to pay tribute to former Oakland Raider Gene Upshaw. The tournament raises funds for cancer programs and traumatic brain injury research and, to date, they've raised close to $1.5 million.

Each year this tournament runs the week before the American Century Championship held in South Lake Tahoe, something Upshaw played in while he was alive.

NFL Hall of Famers Tim Brown and Mike Haynes as well as Ron Rivera, head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Stanley Cup Champion NHL right winger T.J. Oshie, and former MLB star and Cy Young winner Vida Blue will be swinging away in the celebrity tournament that is the signature fundraiser for the Gene Upshaw Memorial Fund at the Tahoe Forest Health System Foundation.

Gene Upshaw’s legacy will forever be remembered for much more than his remarkable Hall of Fame football career. He has touched many, including all of those who have ever been a part of the cancer center that bears his name in North Lake Tahoe. The cancer center is very dear to the community of North Tahoe, and the surrounding areas for the access it creates to state-of-the-art treatment options. Upshaw passed away in 2008 from pancreatic cancer at 63.

Celebrity commitments to-date include the aforementioned NFL Hall of Famers along with former NFL players, Herm Edwards, Raymond Chester, Cornelius Bennett, former Denver Broncos Bryon Chamberlain, Ray Crockett and Rod Smith, plus former San Francisco Giants first baseman J.T. Snow, are among the field of 25 celebrities. (2018 participating celebrities)

Practice rounds begin Sunday, July 8, followed by a VIP pairings party. Tournament play begins Monday, July 9, with a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start followed by an afternoon awards banquet.

Registration, sponsorship opportunities, volunteer inquiries and a full list of participating celebrities can be viewed at http://www.gu63.org/. Sponsors receive playing spots in the tournament and the opportunity to meet and spend time with players from the Oakland Raiders Super Bowl winning teams of the 1970s and 80s, five-star lodging, VIP tickets to the private pairings party, gift bags, and recognition on all program materials and releases.