Fun City Iowa

Golf: Love will play Zach Johnson's Iowa event

“I owe him,’’ Love said of Johnson.

Johnson has an endorsement deal with RSM McGladrey, and in 2010 helped secure that company as a title sponsor for a PGA Tour event that Love’s foundation runs. The second annual McGladrey Classic, part of the PGA Tour’s Fall Series, will take place Oct. 13-16 in Sea Island, Ga., where Love and Johnson both reside.

“We don’t go, ‘You did mine, I’ll do yours,’’’ Love said. “But if Zach says he needs a favor, I’ll do it because he was instrumental in getting our tour event off the ground. And he still is.’’

Johnson’s foundation got off the ground itself in July 2010, with the mission to help kids in need in Cedar Rapids and beyond. Proceeds from today’s event will support one of the foundation’s pilot programs, “Kids on Course,’’ designed to support academic and personal success while connecting with families. Johnson’s foundation will invest at least $1.05 million over three years in two Cedar Rapids elementary schools — Van Buren and Harrison — to fund the program, starting with the 2011-12 academic year.

“This is where I learned, grew and was fed in all senses,’’ Johnson said during a visit to Cedar Rapids in May to announce the program. “You’ve got to help those that helped you.’’

Love isn’t the only player to accept Johnson’s invitation to play the same Elmcrest course where Zach started playing the game when he was 10 years old.

Other PGA Tour pros playing will be five-time winner Jonathan Byrd, another Sea Island resident; 2009 British Open champion Stewart Cink; rising star and 2010 Ryder Cup member Rickie Fowler; and Kyle Stanley, a runner-up at last month’s John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities.

Others in the field include former NFL most valuable player and Cedar Rapids native Kurt Warner; Iowa native Mike Bender, who is Johnson’s swing coach; and Damon Green, Johnson’s caddy, who made the cut in the Senior British Open and U.S. Senior Open the past two weekends.

Johnson will host a clinic starting at 9:45 a.m. The pro-am starts at 10:30, with an awards presentation at 3:30.

“We’re all inspired by the players before us, and what they’ve done to give back to the game,’’ Love said. “You don’t hear about the millions of dollars that gets raised outside of what gets raised on the PGA Tour. That doesn’t get added into our billions that we give away.

Tales From Clark Street: Killing Kate: A Book Review AND Author Fun

She has a background in television journalism, so she was very interesting, open, witty, and fun to listen to. Most writers? They are a little more reclusive and look like they are going to DIE when they are in public. When I used to work at a bookstore, I saw more than one writer look like he/she might break out in hives and faint at any moment. Julie looked very comfortable while she chatted with us. She told us about working in the news, the publishing world, and her feisty main character in her series, Riley Spartz. Spartz works at Channel 3 in Minneapolis. She is eager to cover a murder mystery involving the younger sister of one of her old college roomies. There is a bewildering "chalk fairy" around the body. Why? It turns out there is a connection to the Black Angel statue in Iowa City, Iowa. Fun fact: Iowa has two black angels. There is one in Iowa City and one in Council Bluffs . I've been to and photographed both of them--they're awesome. Even though Spartz is in Minnesota, there are fun tidbits about Iowa in this book--such as a mention of Jodi Huisentruit , whose disappearance still baffles me all of these years later. I enjoyed having little Midwest nuggets in my book. There is also a ridiculously funny side plot involving a dog that dies after being left in a hot car. I think that's what I enjoyed most about this book. Sure, there is a mystery going on, but there is also quite a bit of humor. It's the perfect mix of serious/sassy. I stopped reading mysteries a long time ago because I felt they were too predictable and kind of soap opera-ish. Julie Kramer has single-handedly destroyed my notions about mysteries. They can be very, very good. It's also enjoyable to learn about the ins and outs of television news. It's a wild world, people.

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