RSM Birdies Fore Love extends program through 2025
RSM Birdies Fore Love extends program through 2025
RSM leading efforts contribute $1 million a year for charity
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA; SEA ISLAND, GEORGIA; CHICAGO (September 8, 2021) – RSM US LLP (“RSM”) – the nation’s leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services focused on the middle market – along with the PGA TOUR, announced today a five-year extension of its RSM Birdies Fore Love charitable giving platform, which will see the on-course birdie competition continue through the fall portion of the 2025-26 FedExCup Regular Season.
RSM has been the title sponsor of The RSM Classic since the tournament’s debut in 2010, partnering with tournament host and Team RSM Member Davis Love III and the Davis Love Foundation, which serves as the tournament host organization. In 2018, RSM expanded its successful internal Birdies Fore Love program and created RSM Birdies Fore Love to recognize and award the top-three finishers in total birdies (or better) from all fall TOUR events. The top three finishers earn $300,000, $150,000 and $50,000, respectively, for a charity of their choice. Added in 2019 and continuing this season, the player who records the most birdies (or better) in each fall event earns $50,000 for a charity of his choice. In total, TOUR players will direct $1 million to charities during the fall portion of the schedule through RSM Birdies Fore Love annually.
The program begins with the Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California, on September 16, and concludes with The RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia, on November 21, in which the top three players will be awarded the aforementioned totals for charitable donations to children- and/or family-focused charitable organizations of the players’ choice.
Winning players from this year’s RSM Birdies Fore Love program will be encouraged to designate the funds to charitable organizations dedicated to building tomorrow’s middle-market leaders through programs that support education, as well as organizations committed to improving the lives of youth through a focus on hunger, housing and health, which aligns with the RSM US Foundation’s areas of focus.
“At RSM, we have a long history of supporting the communities where our people live and work across the United States and in Canada,” said Andy Bosman, chief marketing officer with RSM US LLP. “Our people and our middle-market clients have rallied around Birdies Fore Love, and we were thrilled to expand our internal program in 2018. We’re excited now to extend the on-course competition through the fall portion the 2025-26 FedExCup Regular Season. This means that together we’ll be able to do even more good for even more people.”
In 2020, Corey Connors won the RSM Birdies Fore Love competition, earning $300,000 for three charities, including Mia’s Miracles, the Ben Curtis Foundation and the Corey and Malory Conners Family Fund. In 2019, Scottie Scheffler won RSM Birdies Fore Love and donated his winnings to multiple charities, including Triumph Over Kid Cancer Foundation and The Davis Love Foundation. In 2018, Cameron Champ won the competition, earning $300,000 for the Cameron Champ Foundation in support of STEM education and youth golf.
“I actually got started with the Ben Curtis Foundation when I was playing for Kent State,” Conners said. “The team would all go and volunteer to help his wife, Candace, pack up food for those in need. So, my relationship with the Ben Curtis Foundation started early and I’ve it supported ever since.”
Conners helped pack the foundation’s signature Birdie Bags, filled with food and toiletries for food-insecure children to bring home over long weekends during the school year. During that time, the foundation was packing an average of 135 Birdie Bags per month. Fast-forward to today, where COVID-19 has dramatically impacted food insecurity needs, and the Ben Curtis Foundation is now packing more than 6,000 bags per month for kids in nine school districts in three counties around the Northeast Ohio area. The RSM Birdies Fore Love donation helped provide over 10,000 Birdie Bags to local children who struggle with food insecurity.
Since the inception of the RSM Birdies Fore Love program, more than $2.5 million has been directed by PGA TOUR players to approximately 35 charities around the world. A few other notable charities that have benefitted include The Quell Foundation, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Extra Special People, Shriners Hospital for Children, Scott & Kim Verplank Foundation, Lanto Griffin Foundation, Justin Thomas Foundation, Xander Schauffele Foundation, the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation, as well as various First Tee programs across the United States.
