Annual golf tournament raises $121,093 for Scotland Regional Hospice

LAURINBURG — After a 1.5 year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scotland Regional Hospice’s annual golf tournament returned to Scotch Meadows Country Club this week for its 35th iteration.

In total, the tournament raised $121,093 for Scotland Regional Hospice, plus an additional $10,000 donation from Eaton Golf Pride, according to Deon Cranford, Scotland Regional Hospice’s director of public relations.

“We’re a non-profit hospice and we have an inpatient facility, Morrison Manor — most for-profits don’t have inpatient facilities because they don’t make money,” Cranford said. “So we have to have things like this to do it. It’s really important. We’re excited that the community supports us. For Eaton Golf Pride to continue to support us, that’s incredible.”

The tournament has now raised more than $4 million for patient care since it began in 1987.

In normal circumstances, the tournament has typically been held in the spring in April, but this year, it was moved to September. Cranford said they worked to ensure social distancing indoors and enforce the safety protocols, in order to make the tournament as “COVID-safe” as possible in light of the recent case surge due to the Delta variant.

“We were excited to be able to have it,” Cranford said. “When we had this late surge in COVID numbers, we didn’t think we were going to be able to. But fortunately we’ve been able to structure this — the golf as well as the indoor stuff — as long as we keep people spread out and safe. We were lucky. Everybody supported it and everybody’s honoring the safety protocols and doing what they’re supposed to do.”

Cranford added that because of the pandemic, they’ve had to spend less on the tournament than they ever have before. As a result, almost everything, including the food for the closing ceremony and most of the items for the silent auction were donated by sponsors and local businesses and individuals.

The auction featured a wide variety of items, from new golf clubs, a grill and artwork to weekend getaways, college and professional sports tickets and more.

“It’s a total community effort,” Cranford said.

About 132 golfers participated in the tournament over the course of two days.

The first-place men’s team consisted of Doug Morton, Greg Lowery, Troy Hunter and Boyd McLaurin.

The individual low gross score was a 68 by Becca Welker, while the individual low net score was a 62 by Troy Matthews. Welker played on a men’s team and by rule, had to compete in the men’s tournament, according to Cranford.

The first-place women’s team consisted of Jo Caldwell, Bev Thompson, Marie Mackey and Catherine Gainey.

Caldwell shot an 83, the individual low gross score for the women, while Mackey fired the individual low net score of 72.