For 20 years, Dr. Dale Treese has organized a golf tournament that brings golfers from as far away as Texas and Florida to play for prizes and give back to the community. This year's Pinnacle Cup tournament will be held on Monday, June 14. The early bird registration deadline, which includes a discount, is Friday, May 7. Regular registration is due by Friday, May 28. The tournament will be held at the Royal Manchester Golf Links, 5700 Board Road, Mount Wolf, and proceeds will benefit the GEARS Camp Ladybug summer program.

"Most charity events have a four-person scramble setup," Treese said. "I wanted to come up with something unique. I developed this tournament to be a match play tournament with teams of two people."

The field is limited to 64 teams overall, with two divisions available for teams to choose from. The Tournament Division is for teams with players age 54 and under, and the Senior Division is for teams with players ages 55 and older.

"In the Tournament Division, each team will play three nine-hole matches against different teams," Treese explained. "Each hole is like its own mini tournament, and it's a scramble format that takes the best score of the two players and compares it to the opposing team. Whoever has the lower score wins the hole." Up to 14 teams will be eligible for the championship match play rounds to determine the overall tournament champions.

Teams in the Senior Division will play two matches of nine holes each. Up to four teams in the division will be eligible for the division playoff championship, which will determine the teams to play in the championship match play rounds for overall tournament champion.

Treese, who began playing golf in high school and has been playing for more than 50 years, said the tournament offers a fun day for golfers.

"This is different from a standard charity golf event," he stated. "If someone enjoys match play, which I consider to be the ultimate game of golf, this incorporates match play into a charity event. It's entirely different than what people are used to, but they love it once they try it."

The tournament is supported by the Pinnacle Foundation, a nonprofit that provides assistance and support to special-needs and critically ill people. The Pinnacle Cup benefits the Elizabethtown-based Camp Ladybug, a summer program for children and adults with mental or physical challenges.

"I'm excited to mark our 20th year of this tournament," Treese said. "We have had a number of sponsors and players stay with us throughout the years, and we've been able to contribute $89,000 to charity. I'm hoping this year we'll get the participation to eclipse $100,000."

For more information on the Pinnacle Cup, readers may contact Treese at 717-367-9144 or cdtreese@centurylink.net.