Golfers rally to help fight breast cancer
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bvwv/Sports_and_Recreation/6356/
Awash in a sea of pink, members of the Highlands Church United Methodist Men and their wives gathered May 6 to hear the latest on their annual Rally for a Cure Women’s Golf Tournament to benefit breast cancer research.
This will mark the 11 th year for the event, scheduled for June 10 at the Kingswood and Berksdale Golf courses. The event has already sold out.
The tournament began when two breast cancer survivors, Marlys Ledin and Mary Lou Mathias, found themselves wondering what they could do to further the research and hopefully help find a cure for the disease. From those ponderings, the idea for the tournament was born.
Realizing the enormity of their plan, and the need for help, the women turned to the men’s group, known in the church as the Hummers. They received an immediate and resounding “ yes ” from the membership.
A few years into the program, its founders decided to step aside, said Andy O’Neil, Hummers vice president.
“ Three ladies from California joined the church (about that time ) and stepped up, ” O’Neil said.
They are Dianne Montanaro, Dottie Odeh and Iris Gruwell. The “ three amigos, ” as they are known in the church, have headed up the program ever since.
Since the tournament’s 11 th year is a special event, marking the end of the first decade and the beginning of the second, the group invited a representative from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure to speak at the May 6 meeting.
Representing Komen was Megan Murphy, director for services in northwest Arkansas.
“ This is truly a community effort, ” Murphy said of the tournament’s success the last 10 years.
She noted that, so far, the event has raised $ 73, 485, with more than $ 17, 000 coming from last year alone.
Across the country, similar groups — 490 of them — each raised more than $ 5, 000 last year, less than one-third of what the Bella Vista group accomplished.
“ You raise more money than any other group in Arkansas, ” she said. “ Your rally is truly, truly fantastic. ”
With the money from the Highlands organization, hundreds of women, who might otherwise go without, will be able to have mammograms or other medical treatment, Murphy said.
“ It saves a lot of lives. You all do an amazing thing, but there is still a large need. ”
Seventy-five percent of all the money raised goes to the Ozark Chapter of the Komen organization.
Along with Murphy, those gathered heard from David Shoemaker of Octagon Corp., a sports marketing company that has as part of its clientele the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
He was there to announce a new program for the Rogers stop on the LPGA tour that will help support breast cancer research.
Instead of delivering a postevent check to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Octagon is going to give the group tickets it can sell. And because the sponsors of this year’s LPGA event have increased their funding, Octagon is not charging the organization for those tickets.
“ They (Komen for the Cure ) sell them, and they keep all the money, ” Shoemaker said. “ Rest assured, every dime is going to that charity, and it will have a meaningful impact. ”
The Proctor & Gamble Northwest Arkansas Championship will be played July 4-6 at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers. It will be televised two days on CBS and will have a purse of $ 1. 7 million, up from $ 1. 3 in 2007.