PHOTOS: Toby Keith Makes Rare Appearance To Celebrate Record-Breaking Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic
The event, now in its 19th year, has raised nearly $18 million for OK Kids Korral.
Toby Keith, Pete Penner; Photo Provided Shock Ink_The Toby Keith Foundation
The 19th Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic took place on Friday, June 2, and Saturday, June 3, and raised a record $1.8 million in support of OK Kids Korral, the cost-free home for families of children battling cancer.
Dinner and Golf
Toby Keith appeared at the two-day event, which included a golf tournament and dinner.
The Friday night dinner was headlined by chart-topping country group Sawyer Brown. 750 guests attended the denim and diamonds-themed soirée, which also included a record-setting auction.
The high-dollar auction included memorabilia from NFL quarterback Joe Burrow, NBA star Steph Curry and golf icon Tiger Woods, as well as items from Ashley Furniture, Crew’s Cottage Carlton Landing, The Joinery, Tim Kenney, Travis McIntyre, Red Fork Distillery, Kennel & Crate, Ryan Cunningham, South OKC Ace Hardware and LOREC Ranch Home Furnishings.
The Following Items Drew in the Top Bids:
Guitar signed by Taylor Swift: $120,000
Fishing trip with Toby Keith and Jimmy Houston: $80,000
Dinner with Toby Keith: $70,000
Game of Thrones trip to Croatia & Spain: $20,000 (11 were sold)
Guitar with signatures from Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Kane Brown, Parker McCollum, Cole Swindell, Jordan Davis, Brantley Gilbert, Russell Dickerson, Brett Young, Ingrid Andress, Maren Morris, Luke Bryan and Jelly Roll, donated by Country Countdown USA’s Lon Helton: $44,000
The Saturday morning golf tournament included 55 teams. According to a press release, the morning winners were Isa Camall, Joe Lemeux, Lane Wallace, Mark Moore and Ben Hayes, and the afternoon tournament winners included Ryan Sparkman, Harvey Sparkman, Drew Goodman, Carson Sparkman and Evan Sparkman. The $10,000 shootout winner was Pete Penner.
Annual Event
To date, the Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic has raised nearly $18 million. The funding supports The Toby Keith Foundation, which helped construct OK Kids Korral in support of Oklahoma pediatric cancer patients.
“Next year, it’ll be the 10th year for OK Kids Korral, 20th year of my foundation party,” Keith told The Oklahoman at the event. “We’re gonna celebrate a 10 and a 20, and we’re gonna blow it out. It’s amazing how much support we get. But it takes that kind of support to handle 300 families a year.”
According to a release, “OK Kids Korral helps make life a little easier for children with cancer by providing a safe, convenient, and hopeful place for families to connect with each other and focus on the well-being of their child. OK Kids Korral provides daytime and overnight lodging for pediatric patients and their families. The state-of-the-art facilities at OK Kids Korral are designed to create a relaxing haven for the entire family.”
To learn more about The Toby Keith Foundation, click HERE.
A Country Music Icon
Throughout his career, Toby Keith has earned 42 Top 10 hits and 32 No.1 singles. He has sold 40 million albums and raked in 10 billion streams. He is a member of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and in 2022, he was awarded the prestigious BMI Icon award.
Keith joins an elite list of songwriters who have earned the BMI Icon Award, including Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Jr.
“When I got to Nashville, they said, ‘You got to get affiliated,’” Keith shared from the stage during the star-studded event. “I said, ‘What does that mean?’ They said, ‘Well, you wrote these songs — you gotta get affiliated.’ So, since 1990 or ’91, I have been affiliated with the greatest organization in the music business, and that’s BMI. They’ve been so great to me as a songwriter, because I knew that even if I didn’t make it as an artist, that maybe somebody would cut my songs. I always felt that the songwriting was the most important part of this whole industry.”
The country star has remained mostly out of the spotlight throughout the past year after revealing that he was diagnosed with stomach cancer last summer.
Written by
Lauren Jo Black
Lauren Jo Black, a University of Central Florida graduate, has immersed herself in the world of country music for over 15 years. In 2008, she co-founded CountryMusicIsLove, eventually selling it to a major record label in 2015. Following the rebranding of the website to Sounds Like Nashville, Black served as Editor-in-Chief for two and a half years. Currently, she assumes the role of Editor-in-Chief at Country Now and oversees Country Now’s content and digital footprint. Her extensive experience also encompasses her previous role as a Country Music Expert Writer for Answers.com and her work being featured on Forbes.com. She’s been spotlighted among Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. Black also spent time in front of the camera as host of Country Now Live, which brought live music directly to fans in 2021 when the majority of concerts were halted due to the pandemic. During this time, she hosted 24 weeks of live concerts via Country Now Live on Twitch with special guests such as Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Brett Young, and Jon Pardi. Over the course of her career, she has had the privilege of conducting interviews with some of the industry’s most prominent stars, including Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, and many others. Lauren Jo Black is a longtime member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.