U.S. Open rains on fundraiser at The Water's Edge

ANDIE GIBSON | Laker Media

Players warm up on the range before play in the second Swing for a Cure golf tournament, a benefit for the American Cancer Society, at The Water's Edge Country Club in Penhook.

Swing for a Cure volunteers Andrew Richardson (left) and Robin Dowdy wash the car of a tournament participant, a perk offered to every player in the field.

Matt Killen, swing coach for PGA Tour player Kenny Perry, provided a clinic and brief swing evaluations to the tournament's 112 participants.

It was blue sky and sunshine on Monday at The Water's Edge Country Club in Penhook, but the weather didn't exactly cooperate for the second Swing for a Cure golf tournament to benefit the American Cancer Society.

The event's planned main attractions -- PGA Tour player Kenny Perry and Steve Williams, Tiger Woods' caddie -- were still in Farmingdale, N.Y., completing the U.S. Open, which was delayed because of rain.

"We really wanted to improve upon what we offered last year," said tournament chairman Ron Willard II. "But due to a series of unfortunate events, we weren't able to get Kenny and Steve here."

Perry and Williams both called to express their disappointment, said Mark Hurley, Community Manager for the American Cancer Society.

"It is disappointing, but we have no control over the weather," Hurley said. "We hope to have them back next year."

Willard said the event netted $230,000 for the ACS. Last year, just under $200,000 was raised.

A full field of 112 players participated in the tournament, which included a live auction featuring items such as NASCAR race tickets; greens fees to The Water's Edge and The Homestead; a caddie bib signed by Williams and Woods; and a full set of Taylor Made golf clubs with bag, which will be signed by Perry.

In addition, participants could bid on a two-hour private clinic with Matt Killen, Perry's swing coach, who was on hand for the day's events and staged a clinic following play. He also offered brief swing evaluations as players came through No. 7. The evaluations were video taped and will be available to each player, Willard said.

Just 24 years old, Killen has quickly made a name for himself in the golf world. He operates Killen Golf Academy at Olde Stone Country Club in Bowling Green, Ky., where Perry is a member, and also counts pros J.B. Holmes, Chad Campbell and Shaun Micheel among his students.

Killen grew up in Franklin, Ky., with Perry's son Justin, and began helping friends and teammates with their golf swings while still in high school. One day, not long after graduating, he helped a struggling Kenny Perry on the range.

"[Perry] said, 'I'm lost. Can you help me?'" Killen recalled. "He started playing better and other players started noticing how much better he was playing, and they started asking me to teach them."

Killen continued to teach golf while earning a business management degree from Western Kentucky University. Most weeks, Killen said, he spends Thursday through Sundays at home in Kentucky working with clients who pay $130 for a half-hour lesson.

"People who come to me are serious golfers," he said. "I teach a lot of collegiate players and Nationwide [Tour] players."

Monday through Wednesday, Killen said he's typically at PGA Tour events working with his professional students or at private, corporate or charity outings such as Swing for a Cure.

"This is a cool thing to participate in," he said. "My mom is a two-time breast cancer survivor, so it means a lot to me to be here."