Fairwinds Golf Club’s owners have matched donations that will go towards the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
3,000 Canadians struggle with the disease daily, which affects the voluntary muscles in the body limiting movements like chewing, walking, and talking.
Ron Brooks, who has a friend currently suffering from ALS in Victoria, said in a pre-interview he was overwhelmed with the amount of support generated by the members and the course in general.
Brooks says it is very emotional to watch someone go through the symptoms of the disease. He says the fact that so much was done in a short amount of time by golf professionals Travis Busch and Coulton Sheets, is very heartwarming and gives him hope.
“We have known our friend was sick for quite a while and once we found out we did our research to understand what ALS was, I have heard about it, but didn’t know what it was,” he says. “We wanted to bring her passion for golf, and life, together to help raise money.
“When we approached Busch, he didn’t hesitate.”
Brooks says the tournament alone opened his eyes to just how many people have this disease and how important the need to extend research and find a cure is.
“The members were all sort of talking about it,” Brooks says. “We found out just how many people have ALS and how many lives it has claimed.”
According to the ALS Society of Canada each year approximately 1,000 Canadians die from ALS, with a similar number of people diagnosed every year. It’s the disease that left Professor Stephen Hawking debilitated for 55 years, but his survival time with ALS is an outlier. Roughly 80 percent of people who are diagnosed die within two to five years of receiving their diagnosis.
Busch says he has always been aware of the program, but when Brooks approached him and told their story he jumped on the opportunity to help them.
“Originally I thought it would be a cool idea to play lots of golf throughout the day,” Busch says. “When members came in and it hit home, I thought it was a no-brainer.
“For Sheets and I to go play 130 holes of golf just for ALS was super easy.”
Busch says although Sheets and him played all 130 holes members and the owners contributed funds to show their support in any way they could.
“Members supported by providing donations, and funds, all day,” he says. “They also donated to the ALS Society of BC.”
The two raised over $4,355 plus donations when they completed, and Fairwinds’ owners donated $5,000 to generate an estimated total of $12,000 raised for the ALS Society of BC.
Busch is asking anyone who is interested in supporting ALS to visit their website.
