Scotland Regional Hospice Golf Tournament garners $180K

LAURINBURG — The Scotland Regional Hospice Golf Tournament returned to Scotch Meadows Country Club for the 38th year on Tuesday and Wednesday raising $180,383.

Since its inception in the 1987, $4.7 million has been raised and all proceeds go toward Scotland Regional Hospice.

Each year, the fundraiser is a two-day affair with each day acting as its own individual competition. Awards and prizes are given to teams that finish in the top 1/3 of the field and there are several individual prizes as well. This year‘s tournament saw its highest golfer participation in over a decade with 232 hitting the course in support of hospice.

Sunny skies and a light breeze greeted about 120 golfers each day for the captain’s choice tournament. Tuesday’s winning foursome, with a score of 53, was Ben Stanton, James Weaver, Todd Stubbs, and Ricky Covington. Wednesday’s winners, with a score of 56, were Jansen Perdue, Andy Erickson, Morgan Hale, and Adam Bowen.

Bunny Hasty, the volunteer coordinator at Scotland Regional Hospice, leads the event’s golf tournament committee. The committee members, all volunteers, include Nancy Adcock, Laura Adams, Mary Jo Adams, Bill Hill, JoJo Hunt, Peggy Lewter, Kim Liles, Anna McMillan, Tommy Parker, Charlotte Pilson, Deane Pullen, Kim Sheppard and Ruby Williamson. The committee members spent the better part of four months reaching out to long time supporters as well as potential new donors to request their participation as sponsors, golfers, silent auction contributors, in-kind supporters and volunteers. Their efforts did not disappoint as they raised $108,000 in sponsorships and collected over 250 silent auction items.

“We are always surprised at how generous and supportive this community is each year,” shared Hasty. “We had 20 first-time sponsors and more golfers than we have seen in many years. Our auction room overflowed with donations forcing us to be creative and put auction items all over the clubhouse. Our volunteer committee did an amazing job. In a time when so many local events are struggling, we are blessed with a community of supporters who keep us going strong.”

The Scotland Regional Hospice golf tournament has been sponsored by Golf Pride for its entire 38-year run.

Following play on Wednesday, golfers and sponsors were welcomed to the club house to participate in the evening’s closing ceremony. Guests experienced dinner, drinks and smooth jazz music from The Jim Morgan Jazz Group before being welcomed by new Scotland Regional Hospice administrator Missy Smith. Longtime hospice nurse Sue Kirby followed Smith with a brief history of the organization. Golf Pride’s James Ledford and Carol Thomas provided a message from Golf Pride and recognized the new tournament sponsors.

Hasty then took part in another of the event’s staple, the Lawson’s Gift raffle drawing. Each year the McCabe Family donates jewelry to be raffled off as part of the tournament’s fundraising efforts. The donation is made in memory of Lawson McCabe, the longtime owner of Bob’s Jewel Shop in downtown Laurinburg. This year’s donation was a diamond necklace and earring set. With the McCabe family unable to attend, Hasty selected the winning ticket in their absence pulling recurring hospice tournament golfer Kenny Allen’s name as the winner.

Claudette McIntyre, a tournament volunteer who manages the kitchen and lunch duties each year, was the recipient of the annual Emma McInnis Award for Excellent Volunteer Service. McIntyre works behind the scenes at the event with many tournament participants unaware of her contributions to the event or even her presence. Hundreds of golfers and guests are treated to meals and snacks throughout both days of the two-day event, and the kitchen volunteer team led by McIntyre makes that possible. The award gets its name from precious, longtime hospice supporter Emma McInnis and the award is presented each year at the event by her daughter Maggie Wells.

The evening continued with an announcement of the tournament winners by Chip Wells followed by a live auction led by John Horne. Horne also led the annual Heads and Tails game giving attendees an opportunity to win a large wine basket and the tournament concluded with the announcement of total funds raised.

“We want to thank everyone who makes this event possible,” Hasty said.” It takes hundreds of people contributing in many different ways to pull this off each year and we can’t thank them enough. It’s not just a fundraiser, it’s a tradition. We can’t wait until next year.

About 60 volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure success of the tournament. Volunteer co-coordinator Bill Hill said, “This tournament is 95% volunteer run. There’s a lot of effort given because it’s for a good cause. I’m glad we’ve got beautiful days for it.”

SRH is a non-profit organization that provides end-of-life care to people in the area. The tournament is one of two major fundraisers that SRH holds yearly.