Yonder Alonso's golf benefits Boys & Girls Club

Charity golf tournaments are like free gum in the clubhouse for major league baseball players. They can usually take their pick.

Organizations salivate to have a ballplayer support their cause. In the case of Padres first baseman Yonder Alonso, his choice was a no-brainer.

Alonso will host the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego Celebrity Golf Classic on Thursday, June 5, at Barona Creek Golf Club. The event will be another in a string of fund-raisers that Alonso has supported for an organization that touched him personally.

When he was 10, Alonso’s family moved to Miami from Cuba, and at the Boys & Girls Club he made friends and was inspired by the visits of numerous major leaguers, including Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

Seventeen years later, Alonso is in his third season with the Padres, the starting first baseman hoping to inspire kids the way his predecessors did.

In December, Alonso, 27, hosted a tour of Petco Park for kids from the 4S Ranch branch of the Boys & Girls Club and recalled for the Padres’ website, “It definitely brought back memories to my days growing up, and it gave me an understanding of what it takes not only to be a role model but to really understand that you can do a lot and give a lot.”

His first golf tournament for the Boys & Girls Club will benefit the Ramona branch, only a few miles from Barona Creek.

Registration and partnership opportunities for the tournament are still available. The cost for a foursome is $1,000, with individual spots going for $300. For more information, visit playgolfwithyonderalonso.com or call (858) 866-0591, ext. 208.


(utsandiego.com)