Every year, Detroit City Football Club steps away from the soccer field and onto the golf course for their annual DCFC Golf Outing. Soccer is their main focus, but golf is a fun way for them to unwind off the field, and it is for a good cause. Marking year 11 of the fundraising event, players, coaches, the community and golfers are taking over the Rouge Park Golf Course on Monday. “It just brings everyone together," DCFC forward Ben Morris said. "Like shows there's a lot of good things going around. Just bringing everyone together and showing what DCFC and the community can bring to everyone else.” More: Detroit City FC's Kobe Hernandez-Foster found confidence far from home The foursome registration is four 18-holes with a golf cart included. Players also get a welcome bag, snacks, drink tickets, and they end the day with a luncheon by Pablos Tacos. Participants have the opportunity to win raffle prizes during the luncheon, and all proceeds go towards the DCFC City Youth Travel Soccer Program to assist more youth to play competitive travel soccer.
Morris isn’t a frequent golfer himself, but he would consider himself the best on the team with a club in his hand and is "naturally gifted at it." Now in his fourth season with Detroit, he played in the tournament his first two years on the team and missed last year due to an injury. He is bringing out the clubs this year with his teammate, midfielder Maxi Rodriguez, as his partner. Not all players will be participating Monday. While the more skilled player will be making their rounds on the course, their teammates will be supporting them in the golf cart. The tournament is in the middle of the season and starts their week 25 with a home match later in the week against Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. It’s also just two days after their home match against Loudoun United FC at 7 p.m. on Aug. 15. DCFC still sits third in the Eastern Conference with a 9-5-4 record and 31 points. Loudoun United FC is 10th in the conference with 18 points and a 3-9-6 record. It isn’t a distraction to the team to host events like the golf outing in the middle of the season. It’s just as important to them to connect with the community as it is to put their all on the field, and balance is key to making the schedule work. “It's like a matter of we go to work, do training, everything's focused on that, and then even on the team events, we can get away from it, relax, and just kind of chill out while doing the community stuff,” Morris said. amarable@detroitnews.com This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit City FC swings Into action to support youth soccer