Fourteen Tee-rific Years of Golf for Joy
For two sunny days, golfers from the Pacific Northwest and beyond came together at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near Portland, Oregon, to celebrate the fourteenth annual Golf for Joy Tournament.
Thanks to the efforts of the JoyRx community, we raised over $850k for our JoyRx programming — setting a new fundraising record for this event. We are incredibly grateful and humbled by our supporters’ continued support and kindness!
Having Fun at the Kid’s Clinic
Monday marked the return of the popular JoyRx Kids Clinic, a golf clinic and activity center for JoyRx-served kids and their families. This annual event invites kids to enjoy coloring stations, golf lessons, and a toy giveaway.
New for this year, we hosted the Kids Clinic at the Campbell Course to help make the event more kid-friendly and accessible for families. We had 51 families attending this year (the highest attendance since 2016).
Families also enjoyed a Chipotle dinner and Dairy Hill Ice Cream, raffle prizes, and a coupon to return to the Children’s Course.
Check out the fun our families had with the photos below:
Tuesday’s Dinner & Program Brought the Inspiration
On Tuesday night, JoyRx hosted a dinner and program, allowing our golfers to experience JoyRx’s community impact and mission.
Our host extraordinaire, Wesleigh Ogle from KATU News, led the night, welcoming Thomas Stewart, presenting sponsor from Northwestern Mutual; Jack Pipkin, Senior Vice President of Revenue & Development at JoyRx; Launa Lowery, mother to JoyRx-served daughter Hadley; and special keynote speaker Coach MJ McCloskey, lauded women’sgolf coach at George Fox University. Dale Johannes, from DC Auctions, helped gather support during a live auction and special appeal.
During his remarks, Jack Pipkin recognized Gay Davis, founder of Golf for Joy, and honored his leadership of fourteen years, resulting in a combined four million dollars raised for seriously ill children.
Our keynote speaker, MaryJo “Coach MJ” McCloskey, closed out the night with insights on teamwork, overcoming adversity, and gratitude. Her experience as a coach lends itself well to JoyRx’s mission and hope for children across the country — to find what drives their passion, brings them joy, and helps them feel empowered.
The standout speaker for the night was, of course, our family speaker. Launa Lowery shared the powerful story of her daughter, Hadley, and her extraordinary friendship with JoyRx Mentor Sophia.
“With Sophia’s support and care, and our whole family’s love, we know that Hadley will succeed, and we will continue to cheer for her,” said Launa. You can learn more about Hadley’s powerful story on our Joyful News or through the Stories of Joy segment on KATU.
“That’s the impact that supporters like you can make for families like mine,” Launa told the riveted crowd. “When you support JoyRx, you’re supporting friendships like Sophia and Hadley. You help make our days a little brighter, just a little bit easier for kids like Hadley to keep that twinkle in their eye, and enjoy being a kid, even in the face of cancer.”
Golfing FORE Joy!
Tuesday and Wednesday marked the tournament days, with teams taking to the renowned With Hollow course on Pumpkin Ridge.
After another beautiful tournament at Pumpkin Ridge’s Witch Hollow course, we’re delighted to offer congratulations to our amateur foursome winners:
Team Captain Dan Medford with Nigel Lett, Carl Roelle, and Jim Guernsey, playing with Pro Fisher Bryce
And hats off to our winner in the pro competition: Scott Erdmann, from Oswego Lake Country Club.
Thank you to our wonderful Golf for Joy committee, Gay Davis, Fred Buckman Jr., Fred Buckman Sr., and Sean Edwards, who were instrumental in bringing this event to life.
We’re also grateful for Northwestern Mutual, our presenting sponsor; Hofmann Construction, our reception sponsor; Tion Cladding Systems, our auction sponsor; and Western Pacific, our flag sponsor.
Check out the photos below for highlights of the tournament and program:
