Another Marathon Complete

Ask any golf professional about charity golf events and they will tell you that they are involved with them on a wide variety of levels.  We all host them at our golf courses.  Many golf professionals are on the golf committee for a cause that is close to their heart.  Play in one of the thousands of charity events and you will likely see at least one PGA Professional playing in the event to help support the charity.  Whatever the specific nature of involvement we all know how important these events are to our golf facility, the individual charity, and the community as a whole.

On multiple occasions on this blog I have written about my involvement with the Gateway PGA Section's Golf Day Marathon.  This is a season long even that asks our Section's professionals to commit to playing 100 holes of golf in one day.  Given our schedules and the amount of hours worked by a golf professional in season this is no small commitment!  The professionals who play get friends, relatives, members, and golfers at their course to pledge their financial support to raise money for selected charities.  This was the second year for the event in the Gateway PGA and on October 7, 2013, we held a "thank you" pro am event at Annbriar Golf Course for many of the generous donors.  The great day of golf was highlighted at dinner by the recognition of the charities and the check presentation.

This year we once again supported Hospice of Southern Illinois, Ranken Jordan - A Pediatric Specialty Hospital, and the Gateway PGA Foundation.  Two new charities that were involved this year were the Columbia (MO) Golf Foundation and Quincy (IL) Junior Golf.  After hosting, running, and playing in so many charity events it is particularly rewarding to be involved with the PGA Golf Day and see the impact our efforts have on our community through these charities.  I feel comfortable in saying that there is not one golf professional in our Section who has not had a direct experience with at least one of these charities.  In the Quincy area, Gideon Smith, PGA, has introduced a golf in school program to new junior golfers at each of the six Quincy elementary schools and will soon expand to Springfield, IL.  The money donated to the Columbia Golf Foundation will be used for a similar endeavor.  Hospice of Southern Illinois covers 27 counties throughout the area and provides a compassionate service to many people in the region.  The final few days of my mother's life were spent in hospice care and I cannot say enough good things about the work this organization does.  The Gateway PGA Foundation, led by MLB Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, provides opportunities through golf to improve the lives of thousands of kids throughout the entire Gateway PGA Section (for more information on the Gateway PGA Foundation click HERE).

I feel I can talk much more about the work done at Ranken Jordan due to the amount of time I spend at that amazing facility.  While PGA Professionals spend many hours helping a wide variety of charities raise necessary funds, it is not often we see the direct benefit of how those dollars are used.  Every week when I walk through the doors at the building on Dorsett Avenue I see why I happily play 100 holes of golf in one day and encourage other golf professionals in our Section to do the same thing.  "Care beyond the bedside" is not just a phrase tossed around at Ranken Jordan, it is exactly what they do for the kids.  Air hockey, ping pong, Xbox, indoor & outdoor playground equipment, basketball, golf . . . sounds like a typical pediatric hospital, right?  These are just some of the activities you will see the kids engaged in on a daily basis.  At times you will see a child in a wheelchair swing a golf club without assistance for the first time, watch a kid laying on his stomach on a stretcher chip a ball into the bullseye of his target, or maybe you will watch a 13 year old young man take his first steps up to a putting green.  What you will always see are kids laughing, smiling, and playing, while being cared for by a staff who has a level of passion and dedication that is second to none.

2012 Gateway PGA Golf Day Marathon check presentation with Ozzie Smith

This year we were honored to be able to donate $10,500 to Ranken Jordan which brings the 2 year total to just over $21,000.  When you give this sum of money to an organization with a CEO like Lauri Tanner you know that nothing but good things will come from it.  We are very fortunate in St. Louis to have world class medical care like what the kids receive at Ranken Jordan.  As a Section we are also very fortunate to be involved and associated with all of the great charities we support through the PGA Golf Day.  Events like this are a great example of the good things that can be done with and through the game of golf.  And nights like last night, when this game affords me the opportunity to present checks in excess of $10,000 to multiple charities, make me very, very proud to be a PGA Professional.