Eli Jaksic is excited again. He’s talking loud and long to drum up support for the annual Emil Froehlich Memorial Golf Tournament at Southern Pines Golf Club June 19.

Nothing gets Jaksic pumped more than promoting a cause for the benefit of physically and mentally challenged citizens of Moore County.

The late Froehlich was a founder of the event, which is now in its 14th year and is sponsored by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, which is sponsoring a Fun Day for kids in conjunction.

The captain’s choice tournament will be divided into flights according to the number of entries, and players may enter as teams or individuals to be paired according to handicaps. Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams in each flight. Men and women are invited to participate, and there will be closest to the pin prizes for both.

Jaksic is passionate about the cause, and it shows when he goes into his promotion spiel. His job is to spread the word that it’s happening and why it’s a great idea for Moore County residents to pay attention and reach for their wallets, and he doesn’t take no or even maybe for an answer. Failure to sign up immediately results in having to listen to another of his jokes.

Jaksic retired to the Sandhills from Canton, Ohio, the home of the Football Hall of Fame. He came to Southern Pines for the first time to play in an Elks Club golf tournament. He liked it, and when he retired, he came back to stay.

A member of the Steering Committee that helped form the Hall of Fame in Canton in 1960, the 85-year-old Jaksic was a corporate recreation director there, where he oversaw the program for more than 10,000 employees.

“I’ve been working with the tournament for 10 years or so,” he said. “Someone just asked me if I’d get involved with the public relations. It makes you feel so good to be involved with something that puts a smile on kids’ faces.”

The tournament has benefited some 6,100 people, more than 4,600 of them children.

“Something needs to be done for children with disabilities,” Jaksic said. “And that is what this tournament is all about.”

The tournament is a four-person captain’s choice event with an entry fee of $75 and a 9 a.m. shotgun start. The course is a Donald Ross original that has made great strides the past couple of years under the management of Avestra Golf.

An individual or business that enters a four-person team with the $300 fee automatically receives a hole sponsorship. If you can’t play, you can sponsor a hole with a sign bearing your company name for as little as $75.

“We have donated 20 personal computers to the Moore County school system for classrooms devoted to the education of exceptional children,” said committee chairman Al Barnes.

For entries or information call (910) 692-7375.