The Gray Classic Golf Tournament will tee off July 16 at the Ballantyne Resort Golf Club, and for the second straight year the event has chosen the 100 Black Men's Youth Mentoring Program as its benefit charity.

Herb Gray, a Charlotte businessman who founded the event four years ago, said he could have chosen any group but was intrigued by what the mentoring program was all about.

“The 100 Black Men of Charlotte represent a group that is working with kids who may be on their way to college but who may not (go) without the right interventions,” he said during a recent interview.

Many of the 47 young mentees currently enrolled in the program are at a crossroads, and having mentors, Gray said, increases the likelihood they will choose a correct path.

Gray said he decided against holding a celebrity tournament, which he said would have been easier, because he wanted to involve men from the community who could show the young mentees what they can accomplish if they apply themselves.

Tournament players will include civic leaders, professional athletes, politicians, small business owners, barbers, educators and ordinary golf fans.

“This tournament is made up of people right here in the community,” Gray said. “We have the president of Johnson C. Smith (Ronald Carter) involved. We have (County Commissioner) Harold Cogdell involved. We have police Chief Rodney Monroe involved… So you have folks that have really blazed a path out here. Your odds of being more like them are greater than doing some other things...”

The three-day event kicks off Friday, July 15, with a welcome reception hosted by Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Patrick D. Cannon at Loft 1523.

The next day, while golfers hit the links with guest of honor N.C. Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton, tournament organizers will sponsor a Women’s Empowerment Brunch, also at the Ballantyne Resort, hosted by WCNC News Anchor Sonja Gantt.

Later that evening, the Gray Classic After Party will be held at Kalu Restaurant, and Sunday’s Farewell Brunch will be at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in uptown Charlotte.

Last year’s tournament sold out and raised more than $30,000 for the youth mentoring program.

Brian Willis, who owns a wealth-management business and is current president of 100 Black Men of Charlotte, said the organization is open to men from all walks of life.

“We have bank executives, UPS drivers and independent business owners,” he said, noting that young mentees never know with whom they will be matched.

In addition to mentoring, the young men receive tutoring assistance and take ACT prep courses. They spend time bonding with their mentors and go on group outings. Each mentee who maintains a 3.0 grade-point average (GPA) from 9th through 12th grades is eligible for the $10,000 scholarship. Lower amounts are given to those who maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA.

Willis said the experience is rewarding for mentors because they often see themselves in their young mentees.

“None of us were born driving the cars that we have or living in the houses that we live in now,” he said. “Many of us can remember when we were them. So, what we want to do is just take them out of their world and bring them a little bit into ours and just kind of show them that we’re not much different; we just worked hard.”

Willis said the Gray Classic is an opportunity for the entire community to come together and show the young men they care, regardless of whether or not they are affiliated with the 100 Black Men.

In fact, Gray himself is not a member, and the first year he held the tournament he knew little or nothing about golf.

“I couldn’t even hold a golf club,” he jokes. “I never let the fact that I didn’t know how to do something stop me from doing it.”

Gray also is founder of Life Enhancement Services, a nationally accredited provider of case management services to clients with mental and behavioral health disorders.

He said he founded the tournament as a way to give back.

“I was trying to figure out how to do some good and create some opportunity to have a good time, but yet raise awareness and dollars for a worthwhile cause,” he said. “It gives people who don’t golf an opportunity to do something, and people who don’t party an opportunity to do something.”

IF YOU WANT TO GO:
Date: Saturday, July 16, 2011
Time: 8 a.m.
Location: Ballantyne Resort (10000 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy)
Cost: Registration $125

For registration information and a complete schedule of events, visit www.thegrayclassic2011.com.

For more information about the 100 Black Men of Charlotte, visit www.100blackmenofcharlotte.org.

Related Story: Herb Gray: Helping the Cause

Got news to share with Qcity readers? Email us at editor@qcitymetro.com.
Sign up for our weekly email newsletter below

Sign up for our Weekly Email Newsletter Email: For Email Marketing you can trust

Other Ways to Share Twitter Del.icio.us MySpace

Discussions and Submission Agreement