Heinen, Perks enjoy charity event

<blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. - There are many golf fund-raisers held in the Acadiana area annually, but only one features the area’s two best-known professional players.

But you get the idea that Mike Heinen and Craig Perks would be involved in their annual Holiday Golf Classic even if it didn’t mean lending their names to the event.

The annual tournament, one of the major funding events for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Acadiana, held its 10th installment at Le Triomphe Monday, and the largest field in tournament history took part.

“It’s great that people keep coming out and supporting us,” said Heinen, who has been involved with the event since its inception. “It’s a December tournament and you can never tell what’s going to happen with weather and the holidays, but they still sign up and it always seems to work out.”

A total of 36 teams and 144 players took part in the scramble event, one which with its accompanying auction and other events figures to raise over $30,000 for the five clubs in the area.

“We had to get some of the members to bring their own carts out here to help out,” said Boys and Girls Clubs golf committee chair Kevin Tauzin. “When you’ve got that kind of problem, it’s great.”

Heinen and Perks, both University of Louisiana graduates and products of the Ragin’ Cajun golf program, manage to work this event into their schedules every year, despite the demands of both with the PGA Tour.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com <!--

“They’re both very committed to this event,” said Boys and Girls Clubs president Todd Trahan. “We have this tournament in December because that’s the only time they can come in here, and they both cleared this Monday for us six months ago and they’ve stayed in touch since then.”

Perks, who makes his home in Lafayette during the rare times he’s not on tour and involved in other golf events, joined Heinen as co-host of the tournament four years ago.

“It’s great to give something back to the community like this,” he said. “Both of us played golf here, and I know Mike feels like I do in that we want to be a big part of this area. It’s something we can do to help a lot of the kids, and it’s great to see both the old faces that we see every year and the new faces that are here.”

Heinen and Perks each played a hole with every team, setting themselves up at the par-three eighth hole and going tee-to-green with every group.

Tauzin said that nearly 90 percent of this year’s participants are returnees from last year when the tournament returned to Le Triomphe after being played several years at Squirrel Run.

“That says something for this tournament with all the people who take part every year,” Heinen said, “and it’s a credit to the support that Le Triomphe has given us.”

The five area clubs service over 3,300 boys and girls in Lafayette, Abbeville, New Iberia and Opelousas, and the tournament is part of a trio of events that helps fund those services along with the Running of the Ducks and the Steak and Burger Dinner.

A lot of the funds raised came through the post-tournament auction, with items that included golf packages at Tamahka Trails and Koasati Pines and a set of Nike clubs – and two Sugar Bowl tickets donated by Sen. Mike Michot.

“We sold this tournament out two weeks in advance,” said Trahan, “and that’s really unusual for a December tournament, especially when a lot of these guys are at the end of their budget year. But they set aside the funds to help us every year, and we appreciate it.”
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