Diamond Rio Tees Off For Charity

09/11/2000 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(9/11/00, 5 p.m. ET) - Diamond Rio will host its 9th annual Diamond Rio Celebrity Golf Classic Tuesday (September 12) at The Rio @ Hermitage golf course in Nashville.

The tournament, which benefits the American Lung Association's asthma education program, is an event lead singer Marty Roe looks forward to all year long. While Marty admits that he is a fanatical golfer, the tournament represents much more than just a day of fun for him and the group.

"You know, honestly, when we first came up with this idea to have some charity involvement early in our career, it was a goal of ours," says Roe. "One of the things we wanted to do was to be able to give back, and golf ended up being the obvious choice, and, for me, a little selfish at first. You know, I love the game, but at this point, I don't even have to play necessarily. It's not really why I go. I mean, I'm more focused on, 'How much money have we got in here? How much money have we got for the charity?' This is an event that we really are working for the money on."

The tournament begins this morning after Diamond Rio guitarist Jimmy Olander skydives from a plane onto the green. Celebrities confirmed to participate include Larry Stewart, Susan Ashton, comedian Henry Cho, astronaut Michael McCulley, former New York Jets player Steve Reese, Opry members Ray Pillow, Jimmy C. Newman, and Jack Greene, Cledus T. Judd, and CNN anchor Larry Smith.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

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