Zach Johnson Foundation Classic has a great shot to score well

The goal was a birdie. It appears an eagle is now attainable.

Little more than a year ago, Zach Johnson stood in front of microphones and cameras at Elmcrest Country Club and said the goal for the first Zach Johnson Foundation Classic golf event at the club was to raise $250,000, going toward children with unmet needs in his hometown.

Given the economic climate of the nation and the strains on philanthropy in post-flood Cedar Rapids, that would have been an excellent goal to reach. Monday morning, the inaugural Classic will be held at Elmcrest. And ...

“I'm confident we'll be somewhere north of $500,000,” said Pat Cobb, a retired Hiawatha businessman who is the foundation's chairman.

“The reason we've been able to do that, I think, is we've been able to have an incredibly generous title sponsor come forward in AEGON/Transamerica. That allowed us to go out and talk to other sponsors and say 100 cents out of every dollar you give us will go back into this foundation to support the charity that we've chosen.

“It's just worked, and it continues to work incredibly well.”

The charity is Kids on Course, a program formed in collaboration with the Cedar Rapids School District and the United Way of East Central Iowa. The program, which will be used in Harrison and Van Buren elementary schools this coming school year, gives children various experiences to try to draw them closer to their academic potential.

The schools have a 3-year commitment from Johnson's foundation.

This is all heady stuff given it was basically a rough outline a year ago. Elmcrest had never hosted an event like this, had never faced the logistical challenges that come from hosting up to 5,000 spectators on a tight course, and with extremely limited parking. Johnson has played in numerous charity events, but had never hosted one himself.

“Two or three years ago, Zach had a vision for an event at Elmcrest,” said the club's longtime pro, Larry Gladson, and a foundation board member.

“I don't think Zach would do it if it were someplace else,” Cobb said.

You don't have to spend more than a few moments in Elmcrest to realize this is Johnson's home club. A museum-like display of his memorabilia can't be missed, and a restaurant in the club is called Zach's. It features the meal Johnson got to select as defending titlist for fellow Masters winners at that tourney's champions' dinner in 2008, Iowa beef and Florida (for his wife Kim's home state) shrimp, with a corn casserole among side items.

The club is set just off Zach Johnson Drive NE.

The foundation's board of eight includes several Elmcrest members. Cobb and Gladson have known Johnson since he was a 10-year-old learning golf at the club. The board has people with expertise in golf, business, fundraising, and media relations. They've had a blur of a year pulling the event together.

“The community came together very quickly,” Cobb said. “Six or seven weeks after it was announced in July, all our playing sponsorships were filled. That was an incredible relief.”

That was before any PGA Tour amigos of Johnson, or area sports celebrities, were committed participants.

“People want to support Zach and Kim, and Zach and Kim want to support this community,” said Pat Baird, the retired CEO of AEGON Americas. Baird signed an AEGON sponsorship deal with Johnson before Johnson's rookie Tour season in 2004. The corporation and golfer have remained partners ever since.

Johnson has persuaded fellow big-name Tour players to fly in here Sunday night, and fly out Monday night to the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Several former and current prominent Eastern Iowa sports figures also will be present.

“That much talent in this intimate a setting, that's really because of Zach,” Baird said.

“He kept saying ‘I'm working on it, I'm working on it, I'm working on it,' ” said Cobb. “Then one day he calls and says ‘Here's who's in: Davis Love, Stewart Cink, Rickie Fowler ...' I said ‘You've got to be kidding.' ”

“This is impressive,” Gladson said. “A Masters champion (Johnson), a British Open champion (Cink), a PGA champion (Love). Other multiple-winners. The Ben Hogan Award winners for the NCAA's top player (Fowler and Kyle Stanley) two years in a row.”

A considerable chunk of the event's financial success will come is from memorabilia and golf-related experiences Johnson secured for an auction at the Classic's gala tonight at the Cedar Rapids Marriott. A few of the items that will be up for bidding:

* Two tickets to the 2012 Masters for Wednesday's practice round and Thursday and Friday's tournament rounds

* Masters flags signed by all the former winners who attended the 2009 and 2010 champions' dinners

* The chance to caddie for Johnson in the Wednesday pro-am at September's BMW Championship in suburban Chicago

* A round of golf for a foursome at the famed Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Florida

* A behind-the-scenes experience with CBS Sports as it telecasts the John Deere Classic next July

That ought to be a pretty lively auction, no? This whole thing is a pretty big deal, and it's not a one-and-done.

“We're planning the 2012 event for next July 30th,” Cobb said.

Monday's play will be televised on KCRG 9.2, beginning at 10 a.m. It will be live-streamed on

KCRG.com.