By Mark Wehrman EBS Contributor
The Big Sky Resort Golf Course once again hosted its annual Firecracker Open on July 4. With a full field of 26 foursomes and near perfect weather, the stage was set for another exciting holiday tournament. New this year, a $5 donation was taken from each player’s entry fee to benefit the Folds of Honor Foundation.
The Folds of Honor Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational scholarships to families that have lost loved ones in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It’s directly supported by PGA of America and, more specifically, is attached to PGA Patriot Golf Day.
The Folds of Honor Foundation and PGA Patriot Golf Day were started by PGA member Maj. Dan Rooney, who’s also an F-16 fighter pilot in the Oklahoma National Guard.
With a total of 104 players, $520 was set aside as a donation to the Folds of Honor Foundation. In addition, a 50/50 raffle raised another $410.
The Firecracker Open also runs a cash-only skins game for tournament teams. Coincidentally, no skins were won and the field of players decided that instead of getting their money back, all skins money, a total of $310, would be donated as well.
It’s also worth mentioning that the fourth-place team in the gross division donated their winnings of $120.
In total, the Firecracker Open raised $1,360 for the Folds of Honor Foundation.
As a PGA member and on behalf of Big Sky Golf Course and Big Sky Resort, I’m so proud of the tournament participants and the community of Big Sky for making this the largest donation we’ve ever raised for the Folds of Honor Foundation.
The scholarships provided by the Folds of Honor Foundation will never make up for the tragedy and loss those families experience, but going forward, it will affect the lives of those in a positive way. So, I give a huge thank you to all who participated and contributed, and I can’t wait to see what we can do for this foundation in the years to come.
Mark Wehrman is the PGA Head Professional at the Big Sky Resort Golf Course.
