Teeing off for a cure

The Southern Landings Golf Club hosted a tournament on Friday for Keith Amerson. Over 24 teams and 124 friends came out to support Amerson to help raise money to continue is battle with cancer. Amerson has been battling this disease for over a year.

“I feel good today and God has blessed me with an abundance of Christian friends who pray for me,” Amerson said. “The love that has been shown to me and my wife Faye has been overwhelming and it’s such an honor to see all the people who came out today to play golf in this 100-degree heat.”

The tournament consisted of a four-man scramble in which every player hits the ball off the tee. The team decides which ball they are going to play on the second shot. This format continues until the ball rolls into the cup.

Team Bowdoin, which consisted of Joey Bellew, Jeff Dunbar, Lance Guest and Rusty Bowdoin, was one of the best teams on the course. The team started strong on the third hole with a good drive from Bowdoin. Guest helped the team with a nice chip, followed by a beautiful putt off the green for par.

On a difficult fourth hole, teams were given the opportunity to pay $20 and get a free pass straight to the green. It was another way Michael Davis, the organizer of the event, was able to raise money for Amerson. The team was able to walk away with a birdie in their pocket because of the free pass and headed to the fifth hole.

Davis came up with another way to raise money in which teams were able to buy a “red bomber” package. With this package every team member could drive the ball from the ladies’ tee once in the round. Dunbar opted to use his red bomber on the fifth hole and blasted a beautiful drive down the middle of the fairway. The ball was sitting about 113 yards from the pin, positioned in the back of the green. Dunbar punched his second shot onto the green with about 12 feet left for a birdie opportunity. He was able to sink the putt for a birdie giving the team a score of one under par headed to the sixth tee.

The sixth is one of course’s signature holes. The tee box is behind a water hazard, making the shot a little intimidating for most amateur golfers. The team opted to use another red bomber on this hole. Bowdoin came off the ball early and skipped it down the fairway into the rough. Dunbar slapped a nice shot over the sand trap and landed the ball about 10 feet from the pin. Going to the seventh hole, the team was playing at two under par for the round.

Guest had been trying to tag one off the tee box all day and finally on the seventh tee he nailed one and drove it down the center of the long par five fairway. The ball flew over 300 yards , leaving the team just about 200 yards for their second shot. Lance had a good look at his second shot, leaving the team putting for eagle. The putt was not meant to be and the team left the green with another birdie in their pocket.

Bellew, at the eighth tee, had a good drive and a little luck as the ball made it through the pines guarding the right side of the fairway. On the second shot, Guest punched the ball onto the green, leaving just a small putt for birdie and with that the team was now at four under par for the round.

The team would go on to scratch out seven more birdies to finish 11 under for the tournament.

Back at the clubhouse there were door prizes given, with the last one being a $350 check to the person with the lucky raffle ticket. Jeff Moore raised his hand when the number was called out and received the check. Moore then hugged Faye Amerson and gave the check to her.

“I love you guys and you need this much more than I do”, said Moore.

The tournament raised more than $5,000 for Keith and his wife. If you are interested in helping the Amerson family, follow this link on Facebook, Jeff McAfee prayers for Keith Amerson.

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