Golfers Invited to Join EWGA Seattle's "Tee Off Against Breast Cancer"
Thursday, April 21, 2005
News from Executive Women's Golf Association, Seattle ChapterChapter Hotline: 206.781-5813
Website: http://www.ewgaseattle.org
SEATTLE, Wash. (April 18, 2005) –Golfers and non-golfers who want to help in the fight against breast cancer are invited to join members of the Seattle Chapter of the Executive Women’s Golf Association (EWGA) in a fundraising tournament to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The tournament, open to women and men, will be held Saturday, June 11 at McCormick Woods Golf Course in Port Orchard.
EWGA’s Seattle Chapter is one of an estimated 3,000 clubs that will take part in the 2005 Rally For A Cure® presented by Golf For Women magazine. This year’s events are organized around the theme “Celebrating 10 Years of Touching Lives” to mark a decade of Rally programs. The breast cancer awareness campaign is the nation’s largest grassroots women’s golf program.
Event chair Helen Lally said a full field of 144 players is expected for the Rally, which features a shamble format tournament, fun competitions, plus an awards dinner and charity raffle. The $125 entry fee includes golf, power cart, range balls, tee prizes and dinner buffet, with $25 earmarked for the Komen Foundation.
An alternative to tournament play is a 3-hour golf clinic with LPGA Professional Joanne Foreman, who is donating the fee of $250 per person to the charity.
Non-golfers can support the campaign through various levels of sponsorships, donations of raffle items or with contributions in memory of a loved one. Details are on the Chapter’s website, www.ewgaseattle.org or may be requested by calling Lally at 425.778-4051.
Golfers will have an opportunity to vie for numerous prizes. As part of the Rally For A Cure® activities, a closest-to-the-pin contest is held at a designated par-3 Rally hole. Titleist® golf balls bearing the pink ribbon breast cancer awareness symbol are awarded to every player who hits the green on the first swing and a prize is given to the player whose shot lands nearest to the hole. Two new prize suppliers, Adams Golf and Etonic Shoes, are supporting this year’s Rally.
All players will receive important early detection information, a symbolic pink ribbon pin with a golf club designed exclusively for Rally For A Cure®, and a one-year subscription to Golf For Women® magazine. The magazine is underwriting all administrative costs of Rally For A Cure®.
“We are proud to be a part of this vital, cause oriented women’s golf program, said Susan K. Reed, editor in chief of Golf For Women magazine. “Together we are helping to get the critical life saving message of early breast cancer detection out to golfers and members of their communities,” she added.
Nearly one million golfers have taken to the nation’s fairways to participate in a Rally For A Cure® event. Since its inception in 1996, the mission of Rally has been to emphasize the importance of early detection in the successful treatment of breast cancer, and to support the research goals of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. According to the Komen Foundation, each year breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women ages 35-54; the disease also accounts for more than 75% of all cancer deaths in women 55 years of age and older.
In its first year of operation, 356 clubs participated in the Rally program. Last year, some 3,000 clubs in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Bermuda, Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia registered to host a Rally For A Cure® campaign. This year marks the third time EWGA’s Seattle Chapter has pledged its support and teed off against breast cancer.
In 2004, the Dallas-based Komen Foundation received $4 .7 million from the Rally program. Since 1996, Komen has received $16 million. Rally For A Cure® presented by Golf For Women magazine (www.rallyforacure.com) is based in Ridgefield, Conn.
About EWGA
Founded in 1991, the EWGA exists to provide opportunities for women to learn, play and enjoy the game of golf for business and for life. The not-for-profit association has more than 18,000 members in the United States and Canada. Seattle, with more than 350 members, ranks as the sixth largest chapter in the international network.
Information on EWGA Seattle is available online at www.ewgaseattle.org or by calling the chapter hotline, 206.781.5813. The local chapter, established in 1993, offers a variety of golf-related activities including weekly leagues, clinics, seminars, weekend outings and tournaments. In addition to the Komen Foundation, the Chapter raises money for two other charities, the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf programs and Washington Women in Need.
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