Former Florida Gators quarterback Danny Wuerffel hopes to make par while fundraising $107,000 Friday.
Wuerffel, who led the Gators to win their first national football championship in 1996 and went on to win the Heisman Trophy the same year, will play in the seventh annual Desire Cup tournament, a golf game hosted during the weekend of the Florida-Georgia football game to raise money for Desire Street Ministries.
Desire Street Ministries, which was founded in the 9th Ward of New Orleans, helps people in under-resourced neighborhoods.
“Some of the things I’m most passionate about are Florida, the Gators and the work we do at Desire Street Ministries,” Wuerffel said. “So you gather all that up, you invite some Bulldogs to the party, and you have the Desire Cup.”
The tournament will take place the day before the Florida-Georgia football game and pit Florida fans against University of Georgia fans at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, said Amy Summers, the owner of Pitch Publicity.
“Danny has found a way to bring together these two sides in a positive way,” Summers said. “Each of these schools can come together and do good in the world.”
Wuerffel started working with the organization when he played for the New Orleans Saints in 1997. Now, he serves as the executive director and said he’s seen the ups and downs in the 9th Ward.
“I was inspired by great work that was being done by some neat folks, but also troubled by the under-resourced neighborhood and the different struggles that were a lot worse than I was probably exposed to at the time,” Wuerffel said.
