Tim Hurley joined the Go Country Morning Show not long before the pandemic hit in 2020, cutting off the first-time radio host from any in-person connections with listeners of KKGO (105.1 FM). So when the pandemic eased, Hurley wanted to do something about that.
Bogey Fest ’23, a benefit for the Children’s Hospital of Orange County, is the result of that longing. The golf tournament and live country music fest takes place Friday, June 2 at Recreation Park Golf Course in Long Beach.
“I really wanted to do something where I could interact with people in person, and also use my platform for something good,” Hurley said not long after his Go Country morning show recently. “And I believe in CHOC. I believe in what they do. I think it’s a great foundation.
“I figured what better way than to try and raise funds for the hospital than to combine two things that I absolutely love the most, and that’s golf and country music,” he said.
Before joining Go Country in July 2019, Hurley lived in Nashville. He’d moved there after a chance encounter singing karaoke at a Playa del Rey bar led to a career as a country singer-songwriter. He said he hopes it becomes an annual benefit.
Teddy Robb, a country recording artist based in Nashville, agreed to play at the festival, as did Southern California country artists Presley Tennant and J.T. Harker. Country DJ Coral will kick off the music portion of the day by spinning records for attendees as the golf tournament winds down.
Hurley, who with his band has opened for country stars such as Kane Brown, Joe Nichols, and Maddie and Tae, did not book himself to play.
“I don’t want to wear too many hats,” he said. “First and foremost, I want to make sure things are running smoothly. So I’m also not going to be playing golf. I’m going to be working the whole event.
“It’s almost two different events in a sense,” he said. “The golf will start about 1 p.m. Our goal, 18 teams, we’ve already exceeded that. So we’re still open to taking a few more foursomes. If people are interested.
“The concert portion of the event will be at 4:30 p.m. with DJ Coral kicking it off,” Hurley said. “And then when golf kind of comes to an end, probably around five o’clock, is when we’re going to have our live performances start as well as a raffle and potentially an auction.”
As Hurley noted, golf and country music were two passions even before he came up with the idea for Bogey Fest. His life changed in 2014 because of his twinned passions.
He’d played a round of golf that day and then gone to the Prince of Whales bar in Playa del Rey for a beer or two. A friend invited him up to sing the Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow duet, “Picture,” and when he settled back onto his barstool a man approached him.
“He was very inebriated,” Hurley says, laughing. “He’s like, ‘Man, I got to introduce you to my friend. He lives in Texas. He’s a producer, I think he could really do something.’”
As unlikely as that sounds, a few days later Hurley connected with the Texan, who was completely uninterested, Hurley said.
“But about a month later, you know, we were sort of in touch, going back and forth, and he got a phone call to (find someone to) open up for John Michael Montgomery at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas,” Hurley said. “He was a pretty religious guy. He said, ‘I think this is a sign you need to come out to El Paso this weekend and we got to start working on some music.’
“And I’m like, either I’m gonna be, you know, trafficked or it’s a good opportunity,” he said. “So I booked my ticket and about two weeks later, the first time I ever played with a band, the first time I ever took the stage with anything musically, it was in front of 10,000 people opening up for John Michael Montgomery.”
The job he left to move to Nashville soon after?
“I actually do event production as well, so at the time, I was running a company that does custom design and custom fabrication for special events, actually, nationwide,” Hurley said.
“I’d never done the sponsorship portion or had to do any kind of ticket sales or anything like that,” he said of tasks that Bogey Fest required he learn. “I’ve never done a golf tournament. But I can build a stage and the backdrop.”
For more information on Bogey Fest, go to Bogeyfest.com.
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