Sports celebrities and prominent military figures will join forces for the 2018 Del Mar Country Club Golf Tournament and Dinner-Gala, set to be held at the famed Del Mar Country Club on Saturday, April 21. Co-hosted by Madeleine Pickens and Dominique Plewes, owners of the Del Mar Country Club, and presented by American Airlines and Kern & Co., this year’s event will benefit Navy SEALs and their families through the SOF Support Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to help ensure American Special Operations Forces and their families receive the support they need to effectively carry out their operations, keep their families intact, and lead healthy and productive lives after they have left our nation's service. A number of sports celebrities are serving as honorary chairmen and are scheduled to participate in the golf tournament and dinner-gala. They include Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, Super Bowl champion quarterback Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, former Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Donnie Edwards, two-time World Series champion pitcher Jesse Orosco, and Jeremy Roenick, a 22-year veteran of professional hockey and a nine-time All-Star in the National Hockey League. The festivities on April 21 will begin with an opening ceremony at 10:15 a.m., followed by an 18-hole scramble tournament at 10:30 a.m. The event will conclude with a cocktail reception and the dinner-gala, set to begin at 6 p.m. A main draw of the dinner-gala will be a keynote address delivered by Dr. Dilip Joseph, a former 2012 captive of Afghanistan’s Taliban, who was rescued by members of the famed SEAL Team Six. Ed Byers, one of the members of that SEAL team would go on to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor for his role in the rescue. Dr. Joseph will be on hand to share his recollections of that unforgettable evening. Also scheduled to appear at this year’s golf tournament and dinner-gala is David Beamer, the father of the late Todd Beamer, who was one of the heroic passengers who helped prevent another catastrophe on 9/11 when he and other passengers overpowered the hostages in the cockpit who had taken control of United Airlines Flight 93. That plane was rumored to be headed for the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C., and instead went down in a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all 44 passengers aboard. Among the prominent military figures scheduled to attend the golf tournament and dinner-gala are Lt. General (Ret.) John F. Mulholland, the leader of Task Force Dagger and whom the recent feature film 12 Strong is based, and John Maguire, a legendary CIA Operative who has an extensive background in working with SEAL teams. The dinner-gala will feature a live auction that includes several one-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Among the items available in the auction are a trip to Italy to see legendary singer and songwriter Andrea Bocelli perform live; a private tennis lesson in Las Vegas with former major champions and husband-and-wife duo Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, and a wildlife safari tour of Botswana’s Okavango Delta and South Africa’s Kruger National Park. Major sponsors for the 2018 Del Mar Country Club Golf Tournament and Dinner-Gala include Bumble Bee Foods, Corey and Stacy Lohman, Jenny Craig, Konica-Minolta and Michael and Victoria Fitzpatrick. Additional sponsors include Chuck Smith, De La Fuente Cadillac, Frost Gelato, Holly and David Bruce, Innovative Capital Ventures, Inc., International Security, Jacobs Family, Janus Henderson Investors, Larry H. Miller Toyota, LM Newmann Family Foundation, Maryanne Smith, Mike Parziale, Pamplemousse Grille, The Liddy Group, Sue Waggener and Steve McCracken, and John Matty Co.