There are many events leading up to the annual Florida-Georgia football game throughout the week each year, and one of those traditions is The Desire Cup, which is a charity golf tournament that allows fans the opportunity to play golf alongside celebrities and former players and coaches from both schools.
This year’s event will be the 14th annual tournament and will be held at TPC Sawgrass with the gala on Oct. 31 at the clubhouse ballroom and the tournament starting at 9 a.m. on Nov. 1 with a shotgun start on the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley Course.
Desire Street Ministries executive director and former Florida Gators Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel helped create the event more than a decade ago to further support the impact had on under-resourced neighborhoods across the Southeast United States.
“We had a friend who encouraged us to make a nice tournament and leverage the excitement and competitive spirit that was already here for Florida-Georgia, but use it for a fundraising effort,” Wuerffel said.
As a result, the event’s slogan is “rivalry for a cause,” which also sums up the event’s uniqueness, as it brings together people who are going to be rooting against each other on Saturday, but they can take time to come together for a common cause and some rounds of golf the day before.
Wuerffel remembers 25 years ago collecting input on how to grow Desire Street and impact neighborhoods outside of the New Orleans area, where it had gotten its start, and imagining having a graph with dots all over it showing how many towns the ministry had spread to.
“It has always just been a part of my upbringing and faith that has led me to want to use whatever I’ve been blessed with to help others,” Wuerffel said. “And, even if you don’t have much, you can always find a way to help.”
Well, that graph is now a reality as Desire Street Ministries is headquartered in Atlanta and is reaching neighborhoods throughout the region.
“Our model is that we partner with existing organizations and help them to achieve their plans, and there are so many things we are involved with,” Wuerffel said. “A lot have after-school programs and some are even small schools themselves, but we also help organizations that offer affordable housing options and job placement.”
He knows the importance of the Florida-Georgia rivalry very well, having won all four times he played in the game, and he enjoys getting to reconnect with so many former players at the event every year.
Fans can go to desirecup.com to reserve a space in this year’s event and donate to the 19th Hole Challenge initiative by choosing which team they are a fan of and donating on that team’s behalf
“I joke that it might be the only win we get this weekend,” Wuerffel said.