Larry McNamee, admiring the check-in table and gift bags prepared by wife, Loralee; Dan Nordhill; Event Chair, Loralee Horwedel; Matt Kambic; and Barbara Bloch, dressed in plum to honor cancer caregivers. (Photo by Bill George)
Ann Lange
The MountainView/The Preserve Women’s Golf Association (MPWGA), put on a swinging good time and exciting FUNdraiser for the University of Arizona Cancer Center, honoring caregivers. Partners, family, and friends selflessly and compassionately provide physical and emotional care, often leaving themselves exhausted and overwhelmed. As part of a medical team, caregivers provide a support system to advocate, help with day-to-day tasks, and encourage patients to continue to embrace life, have as normal of a life as possible, and become a survivor. November 17 was a special day dedicated to these heroes, as 108 participants and 39 caddies proudly wore a plum-colored ribbon pin, the emblem of honor for caregivers.
The three SaddleBrooke women’s golf clubs compiled 27 teams for the scramble tournament. Matt Kambic gathered golf gentry to provide caddie courier service to pamper the princesses, and assigned bag butlers through a blind draw. Everybody was a winner in the grab bag because every piece of that caddie candy had just the right wiggle and wigwag in his whoosh when he whaled a whopper. The sugar caddies were all sweet-talk, as studies show that women live much longer than men who tell them how to golf.
Each player was allowed three caddie drives on par-4 or -5 holes, and one fairway shot on a par-5. The ladies played real golf without mulligans, but the scaredy-caddies were allowed one “maul-it-again,” since sometimes when you let the big dogs out they get nervous or lost in the cabbage patch finding the big buzzard instead of the condor or albatross the royalty wanted. There might have been some mansplainin’ goin’ on, but what happens outside the fairway stays outside the fairway.
Par-3 holes were closest to the pin contests. The dancing queens of the greens were: Raylene Peters number 4, Donna Yon number 8, Cookie Kaplan number 13, and Anne Cole number 17. These performers tap-danced into the cup for birdies! Champions Madelaine Salas, Sandra Cooper, Carolyn Harville, and Rochelle Davies, with caddies Scott Davis and Dave Harmon, scoring 47, were tickled pink and plum winning the coveted prize of bragging rights. They were even happier that every cent of the $16,300 raised this year went directly to the big winner—cancer research—making the MPWGA’s cumulative total $156,300.
We are thankful for our loyal sponsors Ironwood Dermatology, Margie & Dottie at Long Realty, and Sparkle & Splash, and the donations from our three SaddleBrooke communities. We applaud our tournament chair Loralee Horwedel for her dedication, planning, and creation of the inspiring logo, and her team Linda DeWitt, Betty Cole, and Barbara Bloch. Loralee, an experienced cancer caregiver, speaks from her heart, “There is a rare person who has not been touched by cancer. Research is the only way to eradicate this devastating disease.”
The ribbons of color in pinks and purples flowing across the golf course made a beautiful rainbow. It was a rainbow of hope. Through continued support of cancer research, someday, at the end of the rainbow there will be a cure.