Saturday April 13th was an ideal day to play pickleball and raise money for an excellent cause. Everyone at The Landings has a family member or friend who has cancer, died of cancer or is a cancer survivor. My father died of lung cancer on April 11, 1974; he never smoked a day in his life. It was malignant melanoma that metastasized. Doctors discovered it had attacked his lungs not long after he’d been declared cancer free. My wife Ellen’s mother, Joan, died of a Glioblastoma, an incurable, aggressive brain cancer, in 2011. It’s personal tragedies like these that make Together For A Cure (TFAC) so important. It’s a tribute to the charitable nature of Landings Club members who help fund research in hopes of conquering cancer.
TFAC is an LWGA sponsored event, involving several club activities, held every spring at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club, to raise money for cancer research and cancer patient care. It began twenty years ago as an LWGA - only event but expanded to include men’s golf in 2019. Tennis, pickleball, bocce and croquet were added in 2020. According to TFAC chair, Nina Stanga, the 2024 beneficiaries are Mercer School of Medicine Landings Scholars for cancer research, St. Joseph’s/Candler Foundation for cancer patient care, and the Stephen D. Hollenberg Patient Assistance Fund supporting service for cancer patients. The events consist of Women’s and Men’s Golf tournaments and Court Sports tournaments, raffles and a live auction, with support from sponsors, donors. TFAC has generated over $1,350,000 since its inception.
After a couple of weeks of focusing on the ill-fated Grand Harbor vote and lamenting the change of traffic flow at the main gate, getting involved in a charity event with such a promising mission was the perfect diversion. Forty-four picklers descended on the courts ready to do their part to defeat cancer. In one sense it would have been terrific if more members had participated, but pickleball was just one of the many sports involved. And it was held on the third day of the Masters. (As an aside, second time winner Scottie Scheffler is an avid pickleball fan and owns a stake in MLPs Texas Ranchers.)
Players divided into men’s and women’s doubles teams and play started at 3:00 PM. Alex Fox organized the round robin format into five divisions based on player ratings. After more than four hours of spirited play, winners were crowned. Men’s Championship/A went to Rusty Billingsly and Dave Martin, while Fred Thompson and Spencer Wheeler won in Men’s B. Leslie Medinger and Leslie Marino won the Women’s Championship. Betsey and Harriet Andersen garnered the win in the “A” Division, and Jennifer Dwyer and Rebecca Reynolds won Women’s “B.”
Other medalists include Einar Andersen and Eric Larson in Men’s Championship A, Trish Tallon, Moria Williams, Bianca Eichholz and Angel Dudley in Women’s B.
Congratulations and thank you to all who entered the tournament. Everyone who participated and helped TFAC raise $2,508 for cancer research is a winner.