EAST LANSING – The billboard on I-75 describes Hawk's Eye Golf Club as being the course where Tom Izzo plays. And for good reason. Michigan State's famed basketball coach says the course in northern Michigan suits his tastes perfectly, for its sporting characteristics as well as it charities.

Izzo will renew his relationship with Hawk's Eye on June 3-4 when he plays host to the third annual Tom Izzo Celebrity-Pro Charity Challenge in Bellaire, Mich., which is located just south of Charlevoix.

Izzo says the event is one of the high points of this time of year when he is able to step away from coaching and recruiting a bit to spend time with family, play an occasional round of golf and support his charities.

The event raises money for Camp Quality USA, an organization which sends children to summer camp.

"I was asked if I would get involved with some things the course was doing," Izzo said. "So I went up and looked at it and it's a pretty neat place up in Belaire, Michigan.

"I said we have to get involved with some kind of charity, because I don't want the money. The people at Hawk's Eye had a charity in mind, and it looked like a winner to me, the cause was great. So that was a win-win.

"So Camp Quality is the charity, and it a project that sends these kids that are very sick to camp for a week. And it's been kind of cool. It's been a different kind of charity. I've been involved with several charities and have had some real rewarding experiences and made some good progress in a lot of areas, but this goes directly to those kids. And seeing the pictures from camp and what they get to do is pretty awesome."

Hawk's Eye has been ranked the 12th greatest public golf course in Michigan. It was designed by John Robinson who has been named among the top 50 golf course architects in the nation.

"The course is awesome," Izzo said. "They have two courses there, The Chief and Hawk's Eye. The Chief is a brutally tough course and Hawk's Eye is a beautiful, cut-out-of-the-woods course. It's really nice."

Hawk's Eye has been described by Michigan Golf Magazine as a course that encourages golfers to express themselves, pull out that driver, often, and hit it hard and far. Hawk's Eye's par 5s rank among Michigan's best.

"There are some picturesque holes that are on the water," Izzo said. "There is a 600-and-some yard downhill slope hole. There are some log cabins and log homes on some of the holes. There are just those views of mammoth trees, right in the forest, things that I really enjoy more than the flat, open looks. So it is a very pretty place, yet very tough.

"When the sun is going down there, it is a pretty neat place to be."

When asked about the billboard that proclaims, "Come play where I play," Izzo says: "That's true. There's no kidding about it. I'd like to get there more often than I do.

"I think there are a lot of great courses up there, but I just love how these two courses offer so much in different ways. When I say one is difficult, it really is a challenge. And the other one is just beautiful."

Helping a cause like Camp Quality USA at his favorite course makes the entire event one of the highlights of Izzo's summer. The event will help send children with cancer to camp at the Michigan chapter of Camp Quality USA in Petoskey in August.

"These courses, with that charity, were something different, something we were excited to get involved in," Izzo said. "It was outside of the Lansing area, it was a chance to reach out to another part of the state, a little closer to the U.P., which I always like. It was out of the ordinary drive-by. It's a place people need to be aware of, and a cause people need to be aware of. I love the whole event. And I really like the people out there."

With the NCAA continually adding weeks for coaches to evaluate recruits, Izzo's off-season recreational opportunities have narrowed considerably.

"I don't get to play golf much anymore," Izzo said. "It's almost a shame how little I'm able to play nowadays. But at the same time, it's a great family thing. My kids are getting into it a little bit."

The NCAA recruiting calendar rules that coaches cannot scout players and make evaluations at this time of year. So Izzo gets a chance to get a few holes in before the recruiting grind starts in July .

"I am not a great golfer, but I do love golf," Izzo said. "I'm a bogey or a little less golfer. I can shoot in the lower or mid-80s."

Lack of preparation often puts rust on Izzo's golf skills, which has led to trying moments at public events such as the Pro-Am at the 2005 Buick Open when he was paired with Tiger Woods.

"I had zero preparation for that," Izzo said. "I had been on the road for days, and I hadn't even touched a club for about five week until the day before. So that's why I swung easy."

Izzo was asked if golfing with Woods was more pressurized than shooting free throws as part of a challenge live on ESPN's College GameDay this past February.

"The first tee with Tiger was a lot tougher than shooting the free throws here, because I was afraid I was going to wound somebody," Izzo said. "I didn't hit someone like (Nick) Saban did, three fairways over, when he played with Tiger, but I was worried."

Woods won't be accompanying Izzo at the Celebrity-Pro Charity Challenge. But Izzo will put pressure on himself nonetheless.

"The great thing about golf is you only have to get one stroke better per hole and you go from average to greatness," he said. "Of course, that one stroke a hole is hard to get. That's what everyone is chasing."

At Hawk's Eye on June 3-4, Izzo will chase it with friends and fans, for the purpose of – as Camp Quality's slogan says - letting kids with cancer be kids again.