2nd Annual Golf Fore A Kid Golf Tournament

The second annual Golf Fore A Kid golf tournament took place last Monday, August 5 at the Meridian Golf Course in Englewood, CO.  92 golfers and 38 volunteers enjoyed a perfect Colorado summer day.

The day started with a 7:30 a.m. registration and a continental breakfast for the players and volunteers.

At registration, the participants were offered the opportunity to purchase one of the very special golf balls from Luke Meadows of Ball Droppers which were being sold for $10 each with all funds benefiting Dani’s Foundation.  The balls were part of the newly-added Great Golf Ball Drop element to this year’s tournament.  Immediately following the tournament, a helicopter carrying Tournament Chair Dani Urman would hover above the Meridian driving range and Dani would drop all balls purchased by Foundation supporters and tournament participants. The winner, whose ball would land closes to the target below, would take home the  $1,000 cash prize.  736 special golf balls were purchased prior to the drop.  Gene Davis from FiML Natural Resources was the owner of the ball that landed closest to the pin (7 ¾” from the target) and won the cash prize.  Davis announced at the Tournament Awards program that he was donating half of his grand prize back to Dani’s Foundation.

Once registered and fed, the players headed over to Tee #1 for a short opening ceremony that featured remarks by Dani’s Foundation Founder Michele Ashby.  Following Michele’s well wishes to all golfers, Dani Urman and KOSI Morning Guy Murphy Huston made the ceremonial first drives and all golfers drove off to their respective holes for play in one of the two formats that were offered for this year’s tournament.

As the players rounded the Meridian course, they were treated to give-aways by sponsoring businesses and contests throughout the course including men’s and women’s Closest to the Pin and men’s and women’s Longest Drive competitions.

A barbecue lunch and awards program followed tournament play and the Great Golf Ball Drop.  Murphy Huston emceed the program and was assisted by Tournament Chairs Dani and Frank Urman.  All sponsors and donors were recognized for their participation within this year’s event and received a framed tournament program and photo with Dani Urman.

Sponsors of the 2013 Tournament included Meridian Golf Course, KOSI Radio, United Healthcare, Creative Technology Prosthetics & Orthotics, LLC, FIML Natural Resources, LLC, First American State Bank, Mr. & Mrs. Bobby Otte, Kaiser Permanente, Precious Metal Summit Conferences, LLC, Mr. & Mrs. Tim Simmons, Willis of Colorado, BASupport, CNIC Healthcare Solutions, Niki Stearman of Kentwood City Properties, Specialty Incentives, The Experience Pros, 3^rd Avenue Studio and Triple R Services .

2013 Tournament Donors included Adams Mystery Playhouse, Bed Bath & Beyond, Café Terracotta, Color Me Mine, Colorado Symphony, Costco (Arvada, Littleton & Thornton stores), Enstrom Candies, Grapes of Wine Market, Halo Branded Solutions, Henri’s Jewelry, Ivy at the Glenn, Kroenke Sport Charities, La Tierra Salon and Day Spa, Little Pub Company, Molly’s of Denver, PGA Superstore, Perky Jerky, Romano’s Italian Restaurant, Royal Gorge Route Railroad, Sam’s #3, Snooze An AM Eatery, Texas Roadhouse (Parker), The Avenue Grill and WalMart (Smokeyhill Road – Parker).

Following the sponsor and donor recognitions, those assembled were treated to a  short presentation by pediatric cancer survivor Kennedy Moriarty. Kennedy shared with those assembled on what it was like to be diagnosed with Osteosarcoma and explained that the current treatments for this disease are dreadful; especially for children undergoing these treatments.  She was diagnosed in 2007 and just completed her final surgery from her treatment regime. Kennedy emphasized that Dani’s Foundation is important because of their efforts to fund the science that is working to find better treatment protocols for pediatric sarcoma patients and ultimately for ALL pediatric cancer patients.

Murphy Huston thanked Kennedy Moriarty for her inspiring story and then set out to award the prizes in the 2013 Golf Fore A Kid Tournament.

Dani Urman was recognized for efforts on behalf of the past two tournaments.  Dani is the impetus behind the Golf Fore A Kid Tournament.  She is a pediatric sarcoma survivor.  She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in 2010.  As an avid golfer and graduating member of the Cherry Creek High School Ladies Golf Team, Dani wanted to do something that would involve her network of family and friends and assist in raising funding for Dani’s Foundation; for which she has been involved as a Youth Ambassador for the past three years.

Terry Stearman and members of the Stearman family (Terry, Niki and KellyBar-Or) were recognized for their overwhelming support of this year’s tournament.

The tournament’s Best Dressed Award was presented to the Style Matters team of Julie Bildstein, Debbie Keesling, Helen Nelson and Penny Malloy.  A runner up award was also given to the team from Envirotech Commercial Services.

The winner of the Woman’s Closest to the Pin contest was Erin Ruquare from the Creative Technology Prosthetics and Orthotics team.

Hank Kinne, from the Willis of Colorado team, was awarded the Men’s Closest to the Pin award.

KellyBar-Or was the winner of the Women’s Longest Drive Contest and Jay Hicks was the winner of the Men’s Longest Drive Contest.

The 3^rd Place Scramble Team were the members of the FiML Natural Resources team.  Members included Leah Brace, Gene Davis, Pat Evans and Bad Pottebaum.

The 3^rd Place Best Ball Team were the youngest participants in this year’s tournament and consisted of Amisha Singh, Allie Timlin, Chris Weinstein and Erica Works.

The 2^nd Place Scramble Team was the Bobby Otte Family & Friends Team consisting of Bobby and Carol Otte, Chris Dillon and Dominic Kiley

The 2^nd Place Best Ball Team was the Dickey Family Team including Bill, Jeb, Scott and Tyler.

The 1^st Place Scramble Team was from United Healthcare and the team members consisted of Cory Gale, Jay Hicks, Tony Robinson and Jame Yurko.

And, the 1^st Place Best Ball Team was the Willis of Colorado team consisting of Hank Kinne, Mark Borkovek, Steve Sanford and Les Sowitch.