HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-07-29, Page 3The Seaforth Country Classic recognizes diabetes
The golf
tournament has
raised $15,000 for
the Canadian
Diabetes Association
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
Two common symptoms
of diabetes, extreme tired-
ness and blurry vision, did
not prevent a Shelbourne
man from winning the
crown a second time at the
Seaforth Country Classic.
This feeling is familiar,
said David Markle, the 2013
and now 2015 Seaforth
Country Classic champion.
He and more than fifty golf-
ers were cut down to 22 after
two days. Last Saturday
marked the third day of golf-
ing, which meant a cham-
pion would be capped. Not
only would they be crowned,
it also came with a brand
new black blazer and a
$10,000 life-size cheque.
"This is a special place, I
played here my first pro
event in 2009," said Markle.
"It's a lot like home"
Markle, who is from an
Ontario town an hour and a
half away from Seaforth, said
he understands what it's like
to be from a smaller
community.
"It's a town of 6,000 people,
we have a little home-made
course where everyone takes
pride into," said Markle.
The respect he has for his
golf club was the same given
to the Seaforth Country Club.
He and Winnipeg's Eric
Hawerchuk being in the last
group both walked over to
Seaforth's golf pioneer Ken
Doig Sr. and the rest of the
Doig family to thank them. A
mutual respect between both
golfers and the golf course as a
whole was witnessed. Markle
maintained the lead pretty
much during the whole tour-
nament golfing 15 under par
and Hawerchuck was not too
far behind with 8 under.
"I stayed patient, I birdied
one, then Eric and I both got
into some trouble, I got a tri-
ple bogey and he made a dou-
ble bogey,' said Markle. " It
would have been easy to let
that bother you for the rest of
the day."
This game became more
than just any game, because a
lot of it was for a good cause.
This victory is that much bet-
ter, explained Markle, who
was diagnosed with diabetes
Feb.19, 2011.
The Seaforth Country Clas-
sic tournament is geared
towards fundraising and cre-
ating awareness about diabe-
tes. The group disease known
as diabetes affects how your
body uses blood. The tourna-
ment has fundraised approxi-
mately $15,000 to the Cana-
dian Diabetes Association in
the last two years.
"My pancreas doesn't work,
so every time I eat, I have to
take a shot of insulin, I take
about four needles a day," said
Markle.
Kyle Skinner, who lives
with Type 1 diabetes, is the
Seaforth Country Club assis-
tant golf pro. He said, "There
Shaun Gregory Huron Exposito
Bryan DeCorso gives some tips to a younger golfer. He and
several other professional golfers had a friendly tournament
before the Pro -Am.
are very few people that
don't know somebody who
is effected by diabetes:'
"Golf's a good fit for dia-
betes," said Skinner. "It's all
about having an active life-
style, getting out, walking
getting some exercise and it
shows kids around here that
it doesn't stop you from
being a professional."
According to the Govern-
ment of Canada website,
Type 2 diabetes is one of the
fastest rising diseases in
Canada with more than
60,000 new cases every year.
This marks the eighth year of
the tournament and now
Markle will be $10,000 richer
and the Canadian Diabetes
Association will be receiving
a $7,500 cheque from the
Seaforth Country Club Clas-
sic tournament.
The children had the opportunity to golf with the pros hours before
the Pro -Am tournament. One of the activities was shooting out the
sand.
The winner of the Seaforth
Country Classic David Markle
shakes hands with Ken Doig
Sr.
David Markle puts on the winners jacket last Saturday.
Pros have fun with the kids before the Pro -Am
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
The day before the Sea -
forth Country Club Classic,
the pros paid homage to the
youngsters.
A group of professional
golfers joined together last
Wednesday on a bright and
sunny morning to show the
junior golfers a thing or two
on the course. The friendly
tournament matched up the
golfers with other kids fol-
lowed by trick shots over
tarps, putting challenges and
several other fun games.
"They're the ones that will
grow into the game, if they
see some pros playing and it
gives them some ambition, it
will make them want to
play," said Matthew
McMahon.
Matthew McMahon, 30, is
one of the golfers competing
in the tournament. At one
point during the balloon
popping part of the junior
competition, him and the
other golfers instead of using
clubs, started throwing the
golf balls at the targets. The
golfers were laughing with
the other children and having
fun, at one point McMahon
could not have luck with his
strong hand so he switched to
his opposite side.
"Growing up I played
Hockey left handed and I
can switch hit in baseball, it
wasn't working right
handed, so I thought I would
try to pop the balloon with
the left, that didn't work out
either," said McMahon.
Eric Hawerchuk, 26, son of
retired legendary NHL
hockey star Dale Hawerchuk
said this is not only good for
the kids, but it bring the
community together.
"You come out here, you
know everybody's excited
that the pros are here, a lot of
times they're shoeing the
pros away, so it's nice to be
out where they want you to
be," said Hawerchuk.
After the children packed
their golf bags up and ate
hot-dogs the Pro -Am tour-
nament also made way. The
tournament had 16 teams of
four including one pro golfer
per team.
Carolanne Doig, general
manager at Seaforth Golf
and Country Club, said this
is how the amateurs of the
sport are noticed and receive
the notoriety they deserve to
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precede to the next level in
their golfing career.
"You don't know where
these kids are going and
when you look back, you
never knew where you were
going, you've only knew
where you been," said Doig.
"For us it's fun to be able
to watch TV and see James
Hahn, Graham DeLaet and
Brad Fritsch. Nobody knew
who they were, now every-
body knows who they are,
we are a steeping stone to
the future:"
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