Written by Stacy Hall
The inaugural Searcy Classic golf tournament will be held on April 22, in concurrence with Spring Sing, to benefit The Lance Armstrong Foundation through Livestrong.
The tournament will be at The Course at River Oaks. All the proceeds will go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation to support cancer patients, particularly men suffering with prostate cancer. The event is the first of its kind to be held in Arkansas.
Cole Franson, the organizer, said hecame up with the idea of the tournament and told some of his friends about it. Ryan Orr, Peter Bell and Zach Holden said they loved the idea and helped Franson with the planning process, becoming Team Searcy. They started organizing the event in February.
Team Searcy has no personal ties to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, but Franson said he thought the tournament would be a great way to raise awareness for men in the community who are diagnosed with cancer and reach out to those in need.
“It’s a great way for men of Searcy to come together for support because [male cancer patients] don’t really get noticed,”Franson said. “Most events in Searcy benefit Race for the Cure or Susan G. Komen, which are [specifically] aimed at women with cancer, not men.”
The process of organizing the tourna- ment has been problematic. The team has been trying to get in touch with hospitals around the state to get involved and has not had any cooperation or contact back. A lot of churches in the Arkansas area are involved and very excited about the benefit weekend.
“We’ve contacted multiple hospitals, including those in Little Rock, and none of them have shown any interest,” Franson said. “It’s really weird because you thinkthey would be eager to help a benefit like this.”
Friday’s festivities will be geared toward the city and will consist of competition, Livestrong information and “Shawn and Wally,” a radio sports show based out of Little Rock.
The team said they hope that the tournament will be a huge success and become a yearly event, spreading to cities in Arkansas outside of Searcy, Franson said.
The cost of admission for the tournament is $35 for students, $50 for the general public. For more information, “like” the event on Facebook, Yellow Class, or follow it on Twitter @yellow_classic.