Rascal Flatts’ Joe Don Rooney accepted a $50,000 check for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt after winning the inaugural Facebook Hole-In-One Challenge at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Golf Tournament near Carmel, California, on Feb. 10.
The charitable event gave 32 celebrities two shots on the par-3 seventh hole. Rooney, actor Andy Garcia, and hockey great Wayne Gretsky advanced to the finals after coming closest to the hole. With each of the three golfers getting only one shot, a hole-in-one would have earned a million dollars. Even though none of the finalists made the shot, Rooney came closest and received the generous check for the hospital.
Clint Eastwood, who posed with Rooney after the competition, is Chairman of the Board of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, the 501 (c)(3) that stages the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. The organization disperses the proceeds from these two tournaments to charity.
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held annually. Jake Owen was partnered with Jordan Spieth at the event. Other notable guests included Bill Murray, Justin Timberlake, and Mark Wahlberg.