Andrea Carter
| Special to The Desert Sun
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The 15th annual Patrick Warburton Celebrity Golf Tournament, also known as The Warburton, was held March 6-9 with record-breaking results — raising more than $6.4 million to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The milestone brings the total raised by the star-studded event to more than $38 million since its inception.
The four-day event has become the top-grossing golf tournament fundraiser for St. Jude nationwide. Hosted by actor Patrick Warburton — best known for his roles on “Seinfeld,” “Family Guy,” and “Rules of Engagement” — the event draws celebrities and supporters from across the country to support the hospital’s mission of advancing research and care for children battling cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
“This was an extraordinary and historic weekend in the desert,” said Clarke Rheney, tournament co-founder and chairman. “Each year this event continues to grow — with more donors, sponsors and celebrities becoming champions of the St. Jude mission.”
The weekend kicked off with a Songwriters Night at the JW Marriott Desert Springs, featuring a roster of Nashville hitmakers including Grammy-winning writer Tim Nichols, Trannie Anderson, Brett James, Kelley Lovelace and Rivers Rutherford. Their stories and performances offered an intimate glimpse into the hits they’ve penned for artists like Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Lainey Wilson and Brooks & Dunn.
The Rheneypalooza Jam brought down the house with legendary rock artists, including Alice Cooper, Mark McGrath (lead singer of Sugar Ray); Mike Reno (lead singer of Loverboy); Wally Palmer (lead singer of The Romantics); Mike Mills (R.E.M); John Payne (former lead singer, Asia); Jason Scheff (longtime lead singer of Chicago); Simon Kirke (founding member of Bad Company); Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (formerly of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers); Zac Barnett (lead singer of American Authors); John Ondrasik (lead singer of Five for Fighting) and Derek St. Holmes (lead singer, Ted Nugent Band).
Saturday’s Soiree featured a red carpet, expansive auctions and musical performances by Sixwire, joined on stage by celebrities like Charles Esten, Kevin Rahm and Javier Colon, the first winner of The Voice.
The weekend culminated with the celebrity golf tournament on Saturday and Sunday, held at Classic Club and Desert Willow Golf Resort. Among the many stars teeing off were actors Chris McDonald, John O’Hurley, Richard Kind and Kevin Rahm, reality TV star Dr. Paul Nassif, supermodel Kim Alexis and sports legends like Sterling Sharpe and Brad Penny.
Proceeds from the event support St. Jude’s commitment to ensuring families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food. Since opening in 1962, St. Jude has helped boost the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80%.
While St. Jude is located in Memphis, Tennessee, the hospital treats patients from around the world — like Coachella Valley native, Natalie Tanner. Tanner was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was a baby and given less than a 20% chance of survival.
Through the help of St. Jude, Tanner beat those odds. Today, she is 17 years old and attends Xavier College Preparatory High School in Palm Desert. She first met Warburton in Palm Desert within the tournament’s first year and has maintained a friendship with him that has only grown over time. In fact, Warburton took Tanner and her family to Disneyland last fall and were happy to reunite once again at The Warburton this year.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center devoted solely to children. St. Jude shares the breakthroughs it makes to help doctors and researchers at local hospitals and cancer centers around the world improve the quality of treatment and care for even more children.
The 2025 tournament was sponsored by a number of generous organizations including The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, The Auen Foundation, Shakti Warriors, JW Marriott Desert Springs, Classic Club, Desert Willow Golf Resort, HH Global, and Tito’s Vodka.
Next year’s Warburton is scheduled for March 12-15, 2026. For more information, visit thewarburton.com.
Andrea Carter is the owner of the locally based marketing and PR firm Andrea Carter & Associates. She serves as a member of the board and the PR director for the Patrick Warburton Celebrity Golf Tournament as well as the board of directors for Palm Springs Women in Film & Television.