The Executive Women's Golf Association kicks off the season in Richmond with a Tee-Off Event on Saturday.

The association's Greater Richmond chapter will begin the event at 10:30 a.m. at the Jefferson Lakeside Country Club, 1700 Lakeside Ave. The fifth annual Tee-Off includes lunch and a silent auction for $20; an optional clinic with PGA professionals for $10; and an optional, nine-hole captain's choice scramble, $30.

The nonprofit association, founded in 1991, offers organized play, instruction and networking opportunities for women.

"We help women learn and play golf for business and for life," said chapter president Cecelia Crouch, a financial adviser for Smith Barney. "So much business is done nonchalantly on the golf course. We don't want women to be intimidated. We want to give women the confidence and skill set so they can play."

Most of the chapter's activities are held in the evening or on weekends to accommodate work schedules. Women do not have to be executives to join and men are eligible as members.

About 110 women belong to the Richmond chapter, which uses the Tee-Off to boost membership and to help raise money for its educational programs, according to Crouch. Funds raised at the event also will support the LPGA-USGA "Girls Golf" program; the EWGA Foundation's Drive for Dreams and the chapter's participation in the "Rally for the Cure" breast-cancer awareness program.

Deadline to register for the Tee-Off is Wednesday. For details, go to www.ewgarichmond.com or call Crouch at (804) 647-7518.

-- A.J. Hostetler