It was serious fun on the greens of Holmes Harbor Golf Course Saturday as 94 golfers plus a gallery of friends, family and community supporters came out for the Matt Moss Benefit Golf Tournament.
It wasn’t a day to worry about winning or losing. It wasn’t even a matter of how much money was raised at the end of the day, even though the more the better — because this was a day for Matt Moss.
Moss, sports editor for the Whidbey News-Times, has been at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle since July 10, when he fractured his neck in a swimming pool accident.
It was some of his closest friends who pulled Moss from the pool and called 911 that evening. On Saturday, those friends continued supporting Moss by helping stage and by playing in the tournament.
In addition to the 94 people who played in the four-person team scramble style tournament, 58 hole sponsors came forward to help. From entry fees and hole sponsorships, a total of $7,128 was raised to help pay Moss’ medical bills.
Always one to be there for his friends, Moss’s aunt Jan McNeely said of the generosity and support shown, “In a way this has been a real gift, because now he knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end.”
“It wouldn’t matter if there were 94 golfers here today or four, the community and friends have all taken Matt on as their own,” McNeely said.
A putting competition also helped raise funds for Moss. It became the spectator highlight of the day as golfers made short strokes for a good cause and a chance at a power saw. Wallets were emptied as shot after shot missed by miles, came close, and skimmed the edge. The putting green itself raised $672 for the Matt Moss Recovery Fund.
At the end of the day, Brion Lubach walked away with the putting competition bragging rights. Jeff Hanson had a lucky day on the course, as he swung for a hole-in-one on the second hole at Holmes Harbor.
Not everyone was golfing. Ball retrievers for the day, Sara Hanson, 4, and Kaitlyn Hanson, 7, giggled endlessly as they ran about fetching missed putt shots, jumping about with tireless energy they worked all day at the tournament for the guy they call “Mossy.”
The first-place team for day included Brent Hezel, Brion Lubach and Todd Lubach, who came in 13 under par with a team score of 51. All the prize-winning teams gave their cash awards toward the recovery fund.
Even losing teams had fun, walking away with the most coveted logo T-shirts of the day, which stated in big letters, “I lost at the Matt Moss Golf Tourney 2002.”
