The Sun Herald - Putting for a Good Cause

Bacot/McCarty golf classic set
By GARY HOLLAND

GAUTIER - Organizers said Wednesday that July 16 will be a day of food, fun and a purpose.

Official plans were announced for the annual Jolly McCarty Memorial/Shane Matthews Celebrity Golf Classic, which will be held at Shell Landing Golf Course.

"There is nothing like having fun and doing good at the same time and that's what this super event will be," said Dewey Lane, president of the Bacot/Jolly P. McCarty Foundation, sponsor and benefactor of the fund-raising event.

Lane said the foundation's board decides the agencies and organizations that are assisted with special emphasis on educational programs. That was the original focus of the late Ed and Bertha Bacot and also of McCarty.

He praised the endorsement and support of Matthews, who is expected to enter his 13th year in the NFL as a Buffalo Bills backup quarterback in the upcoming season.

Matthews, who lead Pascagoula High to a 1987 state championship, has been an NFL quarterback with the Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins, Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals.

"Shane is contacting some of his NFL friends to also play in the tournament," said his father, Bill Matthews, a former Pascagoula High athletic director. "Our family is happy to be associated with a foundation that honors Jolly McCarty."

A silent auction and reception will be held July 15 at the Biloxi Grand Casino, which is joining in the sponsorship.

"This will be another success... that will remember Jolly," said Evelyn McCarty, who also spoke of the family's gratitude.

Event Co-chairman Carl Crawford, owner of Shell Landing, said the event "couldn't have a better namesake." The late Jolly McCarty was a banker and longtime Jackson County community leader.

Todd Trenchard, consultant for the foundation and sponsor Merchants and Marine Bank, said several memorial golf tournaments were held in honor of McCarty last year, but the family decided to combine them into this single premiere foundation event.