Thank you for your interest in suporting my efforts at the 2018 Napa Valley Ultra Speedgolf Challenge .
As we all know, life can be forever altered in an instant. This happened to me on April 19th, 2012 when I was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer called ocular melanoma. After a few weeks of shock, uncertainty, and treatment (lost roughly 75% vision in right eye) life slowly crept back to normal. A new normal, but normal. On December 1st, 2015, life was again rudely jolted with a diagnosis of a rare type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After a month of opiate heavy pain management and four months of intensive chemotherapy life very slowly returned to normal. Again, a new normal, but normal. I am happy to say that I am nearing two years of being free and clear of any cancer and hope and intend to stay that way for a long time!
I started raising money for ocular melanoma in 2013 and have been determined ever since to help raise funds to help find a cure for this incurable disease if it ever metastasizes.
Having been a professional golfer, competitive runner and very involved in the world of Speedgolf for over two decades this seemed a natural way for me to contribute. The first fundraising event was held at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the Oregon coast where I played all five courses in under five hours and raised nearly $18,000. Seeing the success of this I thought that expanding the event to include others would be a logical step and the Ultra Speedgolf Challenge for Ocular Melanoma was born in 2015 in Napa. The first edition had five individuals and one three person team playing Speedgolf for 12 hours. The catch… each had to raise at least $5000 to participate. The event was a great success raising over $30,000. We held the event again in April 2016 and the seven individual participants raised nearly $45,000. In 2017 I opted to run the Mt. Diablo 50k and raised nearly $10,000.
With the generous support of so many, through participating, donating, or both, these events have raised over $100,000 for ocular melanoma. I am now focused on raising funds for Dr. Joe Tuscano and his research team at UC Davis. My oncologist, Dr. Tuscano has made great strides finding and testing several non-toxic alternative treatments, and potentially a cure, for lymphoma.
Founded in 2015, The Napa Valley Ultra Speedgolf Challenge is a health-cause related fundraiser. With an original focus on Ocular Melanoma, the event has now transitioned to supporting the work of Dr. Joseph Tuscano at the UC Davis Cancer Center in the area of non-toxic treatments for lymphoma. This support is made possible by a partnership with the deLeuze Family Foundation. Thank you for supporting this cause!