Patrick Dempsey draws 38-player Drive Fore Kids field
patrick dempsey is in the Drive Fore Kids field as organizers opened the June 25-28 tournament with 38 committed players at Falmouth Country Club. The event is built around a larger turnout this year, with Brian Corcoran expecting about 12,000 spectators over three days.
That attendance target would top the tournament’s recent pace and comes after Drive Fore Kids raised $210,000 last year for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and The Dempsey Center. The inaugural 2023 tournament brought in $108,000 for the hospital.
Falmouth Country Club on June 25-28
The field was revealed Wednesday and includes NFL Hall of Famers Jerome Bettis, Ronde Barber, Dwight Freeney and Sterling Sharpe, along with Red Sox World Series winners Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Keith Foulke. Former NBA superstar Vince Carter is also in the lineup, giving the event a deeper set of recognizable names than the first three editions.
Corcoran, the Shamrock Sports and Entertainment CEO and tournament executive director, said the event has been growing and that the goal is a 20% to 25% increase in attendance. He said the tournament averaged around 10,000 spectators in its first three years, so 12,000 would be a measurable step up rather than a cosmetic one.
Five new entrants
Five players are new to the tournament: Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little, professional skateboarder Sean Malto, Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard, Olympic gold medal-winning snowboarder and Maine native Seth Wescott, and Ollie Wright. Corcoran also said Dempsey is among those with Maine ties in the field, keeping the event’s local connection tied to the fundraising pitch.
Wright, the Portland Hearts of Pine midfielder, said of the invitation, "I jumped at the opportunity," and added, "I see the lineup that I’m (going to be) playing with, and I’m like ‘Wow, some incredible names on there, and just little old me.'" He also said, "I’ve got a couple of months to practice. Hopefully I can keep the ball in bounds, and then we’ll see what happens from there."
Attendance and sponsor lift
MasterCard joined as a primary sponsor alongside Bangor Savings Bank, another sign that the tournament is moving beyond a one-off celebrity outing and into a larger fundraising property. For readers who care about the event’s practical scale, the number to watch is the crowd: 12,000 spectators across four days would give Drive Fore Kids a bigger stage for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and The Dempsey Center.
Corcoran said, "We’ve had good numbers at Drive Fore Kids. I think we’re going to have great numbers (this year)," and set the target plainly: "I think to realistically have about a 20(%) to upwards of 25% increase is the goal for the team." That is the clearest sign of where the tournament is headed — a larger field, a bigger sponsor base, and a stronger gate at Falmouth Country Club.
