Celebs ready for another Showcase

COEUR d’ALENE — The fourth edition of The Showcase, a golf exhibition and part of a weekend event to raise money for cancer awareness, will feature “the best celebrity roster we’ve ever had,” said Jerid Keefer, executive director and co-founder of the Community Cancer Fund.

The 9-hole golf exhibition is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. at The Coeur d’Alene Resort Course.

Defending champion and former NHL star Brenden Morrow returns, along with many other sports celebrities.

They include: Mark Rypien, Neil Lomax and Ryan Longwell (ex-NFL), Guy Carbonneau, Kelly Chase, Jon Cooper, Grant Fuhr, Barret Jackman, Sheldon Souray and Ray Whitney (NHL), Bruce Bowen and Detlef Schrempf (NBA), Roger Clemens, Mark Grace, Paul Konerko, Fred McGriff and Shane Victorino (MLB), actor Alfonso Ribiero as well as Darius Rucker (formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish).

Tickets to the golf exhibition on Saturday are $20 and available at showcasegolf.com.

Today’s events include a celeb-am, where celebs play in groups with corporate sponsors, followed by a sponsor party tonight.

The first two years of the event featured a handful of PGA Tour pros playing alongside celebrities. Last year, the PGA Tour’s schedule at that time of the year made it difficult to bring in Tour pros.

“We went to more of a celebrity event (last year), and had a lot of success with it,” Keefer said. “It just made a lot of sense to keep trying to go down that road.”

Last year’s event raised around $3.5 million. In three years, Keefer said the event has raised around $5.8 million for the Community Cancer Fund.