Story by Stockton T Davis, Pinehurst.

Sometime around the end of January, Spike Hyzer tour director Chuck Connelly #22000 made a decision that would eventually lead to something amazing. “I was at my warehouse organizing the start of the 2015 tour, thinking about all the events I had planned, and trying to find a way to make a positive impact in the community using the platform the tour provides me. I wanted to start a positive ripple effect.” Connelly runs his Spike Hyzer disc golf tour out of his warehouse in Sanford, NC, and he accomplished his goal of positive impact by splashing a figurative boulder into the pond. More specifically, a half ton of canned goods donated to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC.

Michael Cotten, Branch Director of the Sandhills Food Bank, joined Connelly's project in May of 2015. “This donation was the product of the appeal that Chuck made for the last year. During regional disc golf events, he asked that everyone bring a can of food for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. He accumulated the products over ten months and transported it to the Food Bank on December 1,” said Cotten. “We thank him for these nutritious food items. They'll go directly to help those in our community that are at risk of hunger.”

The Spike Hyzer Tour consisted of 32 PDGA events, taking place throughout North and South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. Connelly, the 2013 PDGA Tournament Director of the Year, spent a total of 35 weekends on the road this year between Spike Hyzer events and other PDGA obligations. “When you see as many different faces as I do every week, it provides a nice opportunity to reach out to people,” said Connelly. “As usual, disc golfers have answered the call.”

Connelly’s effort is part of a larger charitable initiative in the sport. A great example being the St Jude Disc Golf Charity Invitational earlier this year, where disc golfers raised $214,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. “Our sport has always been heavily invested with charity,” says Robert Leonard #21676, North Carolina PDGA State Coordinator. “The PDGA sanctions tournaments each year that are specifically for charity through the PDGA Competition Endowment Program. The funds raised are donated to charities around the world, along with the fees that the PDGA would normally collect from each player. It's a wildly successful program.”

When the Spike Hyzer tour wrapped up for the year at the end of November, the cans of food filled the back of Connelly’s pick-up truck. Cotten estimated that the 1,196 pounds of donated goods amounted to 974 meals, a $4,870 value. “Chuck and Spike Hyzer are a very important part of both North Carolina disc golf and the sport in general. It is not a surprise at all that the results were outstanding,” said Leonard.

“Disc golfers here in our region are already looking to top the effort next season,” said Connelly. “The players deserve all the credit for this. I am humbled by their support.”