RICHMOND, Va.—Need a good excuse to golf? How about for a great cause? The residents of Virginia Baptists’ four retirement communities hope golfers will swing into spring at the Virginia Baptist Homes Foundation’s annual golf tournaments that will benefit the endowed fund for benevolence at each community.
The fund provides support to residents who, through no fault of their own, outlive their financial resources to pay for the cost of their life care. Virginia Baptist Homes provides almost $1 million in benevolent assistance each year.
Paul Luck, long-time golfer who does well on a real golf course, finds that putting from a wheelchair isn’t as easy as it looks.
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Dates for the 2012 tournaments are: Lakewood Manor on April 19 at the Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, Va.; The Chesapeake on May 17 at the Kiln Creek Golf Club in Newport News, Va.; The Glebe on June 21 at the Ashley Plantation Golf Club in Daleville, Va; and the Culpeper Retirement Community on September 17 at Country Club of Culpeper, Va.
Resident volunteers are already hard at work visiting their favorite restaurants and retail shops for raffle prizes. They also man “the gauntlet” during registration to encourage golfers to take advantage of Mulligans and Putt-Saving String, and, of course, to purchase raffle tickets. Greens and cart fees, plus lunch and dinner are provided and cash prizes awarded to winners.
According to its “Living & Giving” newsletter, many residents also get involved with the golf tournaments by holding their own raffles, raising funds through a competition between residential buildings and other events.
Last year The Glebe held its own putt-putt competition for residents, which proved to be a great night of fun. The invention of Glebe resident Max Berthoff, the event offered the same handicap to all players with wheelchairs donated for the competition. This allowed all residents to play whether or not they used a walker, scooter or wheelchair every day. Plus, the help of a pro golfer guided participants in the best putting position.
The climax of the tournament came at the end with a “sudden death putt-off” between 92-year-old Glebe resident Paul Luck and a much younger reservation holder and future resident, Tom Edwards, the brother of a Glebe resident. A long-time golfer, Luck enjoys playing in the tournament every year and is looking forward to the 2012 event.
Online registration for the tournaments is available this year at www.vbh.org/golf. Contact the Foundation’s Matt Rose at 804.521.9212 or at [email protected] for more information about any of the 2012 events.
Barbara Francis ([email protected]) is a staff writer for the Religious Herald.