The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society of BC has nearly $2,600 more to work with, thanks to the efforts of three local golfers.
Creston Golf Club pro Brian O’Keefe teamed up with his sons, Kowan and Karson, to collect pledges for the annual ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) fundraiser that saw 42 B.C. golf courses participate this year.
“I’ve been doing this for about 10 years, since I was back in Shuswap,” Brian said. “I’m going to keep doing it as long as I am able. I had a friend in Shuswap who was diagnosed with ALS and it’s important to me to help find a cure.”
O’Keefe admits it was his sons who did the heavy lifting this year. Karson teed off at 4:30 a.m. June 25 and golfed eight rounds of 18 holes. Kowan then took over in the heat of the day, doing another eight rounds before his dad took over at 6 p.m.
“It was really, really hot out there,” Kowan said with a laugh. “I don’t know how many bottles of water I went through, but it was a lot.”
Brian completed three rounds before darkness set in at about 9:30 p.m., bringing his threesome’s total to 19 rounds, or 342 holes. He once did 227 holes on his own in Shuswap.
“But I was younger then,” he laughed. “It’s nice to have the boys on board now!”