Hall of Fame golfer Kathy Whitworth will be this year's celebrity guest Swingin' With a Star

Betsy Rawls still remembers the day Janet Davis first talked to her about holding a charity golf tournament with a different twist.

Rawls said Davis, her good friend, wanted it to be an all-women's event, and she was hoping Rawls could help her find a celebrity guest.

That conversation led to Delaware's annual Swingin' With a Star women's golf tournament at DuPont Country Club in Rockland. The 16th annual tournament will be held June 18.

"Janet came to me and said she wanted to have a golf tournament to raise money for the Chesapeake Bay Girls Scouts," said Rawls, an LPGA Hall of Fame golfer who lives in Wilmington. "She wanted to have an LPGA pro player to be a part of the whole day. She said, 'Betsy, I want you to get Pat Bradley, please.' Pat had just won the U.S. Open and was the top player on the tour at the time."

Bradley accepted the invitation from Rawls, and the inaugural event was a success, raising about $30,000 to help women in need throughout Delaware.

This year's celebrity guest will be Kathy Whitworth, a seven-time LPGA Player of the Year and Hall of Famer. Whitworth, who had 88 wins in her pro career, including six major championships, also was the guest for the 1998 event. She now lives in Dallas and continues to give golf clinics.

Golfers will tee off at 11:30 a.m. The Swingin' With a Star auction and awards ceremony will be held in the Crystal Ballroom after the event, starting about 5 p.m. The event is limited to about 110 players in a handicap scramble format.

Under the event format, Whitworth will hit a shot with each group as it plays the 17th hole. Proceeds from the event go to the Fund for Women at the Delaware Community Foundation and the Christiana Care Breast Center Special Needs Fund.

Last year, $106,928 in grants went to 18 organizations to help women in Delaware. The tournament has raised more than $960,000 in its history.

"Janet [Davis] is very good when it comes to getting top women in Delaware to be on the executive committee for this event," Rawls said. "We're talking about businesswomen like Carol Berger, president and CEO at Bell Atlantic, and Barbara Graham [former CEO of Conectiv]. When this all started, Janet set a goal to get 1,000 women to give $1,000 each."

Among the other LPGA players who have participated are Patty Sheehan, Meg Mallon, Sandra Palmer, Val Skinner and Michelle McGann. Rawls was the guest in 1996.

Rawls said 20 nonprofit women's organizations will receive donations this year. The event has donated about $829,000 overall to the Fund for Women.

Last year's donations included $10,400 to the La Red Health Care Center that promotes healthy babies in Sussex County; $6,700 to Lutheran Community Service, which helps low-income pregnant women and new mothers in New Castle County; $8,000 to help women guard against HIV infection; and $5,000 statewide for the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition Inc. for young women and their families.

"The fund and helping women in need is very close to our hearts," Rawls said. "The money we raise goes to groups all over the state. Our goal this year is to go over the $1 million mark. We're looking to raise $80,000 to $100,000 this time."

For more information and registration, go to www.swinginwithastar.org. Players or businesses interested in participating or contributing items for the auction can e-mail Beryl Barmore at bbarmore@wilmingtontrust.com.