Beem leading TOUR-related drive to aid paralyzed scout

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Rich Beem is donating $100 for every birdie he makes to help paralyzed Dallas Cowboys scout Rich Behm.

While his peers were toiling on the practice range at TPC Las Colinas Tuesday morning, Rich Beem was checking out a Dallas Cowboys practice session.

"Those are some very, very large gentlemen," Beem said. "I'm glad I play golf for a living."

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The 2002 PGA champion stood tall among those Cowboys, though, as he announced an initiative to raise money to help one of the team's scouts, Rich Behm, who was paralyzed from the waist down when the Dallas training facility collapsed several weeks ago.

The program -- called Beem Fore Behm -- has several components. First of all, Beem will donate $100 for every birdie he makes at the HP Byron Nelson Championship and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial over the next two weeks.

Fans attending both tournaments can also make pledges and participate in a raffle for two sets of custom-fitted Callaway golf clubs donated by Beem's sponsor. There also will be a silent auction for Beem's golf bag which will be signed by a variety of PGA TOUR pros, many of whom are making donations of their own.

In addition, people can log on to PGATOUR.COM and make a pledge online.

Beem is amazed at how the initiative has grown. Like many, he first heard about the accident through news reports but it was several days later when Beem discovered the most seriously injured all but shared his name.

There were other similarities, too. The Cowboys scout is 33 and the father of three. The three-time TOUR champ is five years older, also with three young children.

"I had e-mails and phone calls -- people were saying, wow, I thought that was you," Beem said. "I told my wife that I really wanted to help out."

So Beem called his agent, David Yates, and suggested they auction off his golf bag at the end of the two tournaments. Then T.R. Reinman, the media contact at Gaylord Sports, contacted the PGA TOUR and the Cowboys and the plan mushroomed.

"It's been a lot of fun for me -- and a little overwhelming, at the same time," Beem said. "I didn't expect something this big. But it shows the nature of the PGA TOUR. The TOUR is always ready to jump in and help.

"I'm so glad we're going to be able to raise more money than just set of golf clubs."

Beem said other TOUR pros have already talked to him about how they can help. Some will make a flat pledge while others plan to donate per birdies. All understand the importance of helping and share the TOUR's philosophy: Together, anything's possible.

"The guys on TOUR are very compassionate about lot of different causes," Beem said. "But as a collective group, we all step up very well. It is nice to know lot of guys on TOUR are planning to help out."

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Beem's neighbor, Trey Boucvalt, has pledged $10,000 for every shot that Beem finishes under par this week.

And then there's his next door neighbor, Trey Boucvalt, who has pledged $10,000 for every shot that Beem finishes under par each week.

"Trey is a very, very good guy from Louisiana who has been very successful," Beem said. "When I told him what I was doing, he told me right away (that he wanted to make the pledge). I asked him five days later, 'Are you sure?' And he said, 'Without a doubt.'

"So now I am hoping to make him pay."

Beem relishes that pressure to perform, though. He's had four top-15 finishes this year, including a tie for sixth at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun. He's made 137 birdies in the 38 rounds he's played.

"I have been working hard on my game," Beem said. "I am excited to get out there and see how I do on Thursday. I hope there will be a lot of fan support, too."

And make no mistake, Beem's managed to take it deep a few times this year. He shot 25 under at the Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, 10 under at the Northern Trust Open and 7 under in Mexico -- so Bouvalt may be making a particularly large donation.

"With his help and with everybody's help, I think if we get enough fans and enough people out there to support this, I think this will be a home run," Beem said. "Just anything we can do to help out this gentleman. ...

"I'd say that almost every TOUR player either has some sort of charity that they run, a tournament, or they're involved with one that they help out with. It's just kind of our nature to do something like this. So I just thought that it might be nice to help out a young man, 33 years old, three children, and I thought it might be a nice deal."

Beem hasn't met the man he's helping, although the possibility exists next week depending on Behm's rehabilitation schedule. He did speak with Behm's brother at the practice facility on Tuesday, though.

"He was telling me a little bit about his brother and how much kind of a stubborn guy he is, and he's not going to let this thing beat him, which is an amazing thing to hear," Beem said. "Hopefully someday I'll get to meet him."

So what started off as something Beem called a "very innocent program has now turned into something quite extraordinary" for the lifelong Miami Dolphin fan who's converting to the Cowboys for the next two weeks.

"A lot of folks are making my job pretty easy," Beem said. "I just have to go make birdies. This has turned into something much bigger than I ever dreamed about."