Players Needed For Jenks Charity Cornhole Tourney

A Tulsa man was inspired by a recent health scare to plan a cornhole tournament later this month at the FlyingTee in Jenks. Greg Florence said his goals are growing the sport of cornhole in Oklahoma, as well as raising money for the American Heart Association.

And they could use a few more players.

Florence, 57, said he started having chest pains while playing at a tournament this summer. He knew he had a family history of heart disease and decided it was time to get checked.

"Two months ago, I had a quadruple bypass," Florence said. "I've always tried to get in shape, but I've never been in cardio shape. 

"I was lucky my problems were found before it was too late," he said. "I want to help bring awareness to the problem and encourage others to get checked out."

FlyingTee's First Annual Cornhole Open will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, September 29. It will benefit the American Heart Association.

Florence plans to speak a bit about his experiences and will kick off the tournament by throwing his first bag in over 90 days. He's a state champion in the sport but says he hasn't been practicing at all.

You can buy a raffle ticket and bet on his throw - will he be in the hole, on the board or off the board? You've got to show up to find out.

The winner - drawn at random from the correct prediction pool - gets half the cash raised in the raffle and the other half goes to the Heart Association.

It's a 64-team tournament with 128 players total, he said. You can sign up at the FlyingTee website or by going to the Tulsa Cornhole Facebook page.

The entry fee is $50 per team, and there's a guaranteed minimum $1,000 payout for the winner.