A one-of-a-kind golf tournament, for women only, benefiting the Central & North Florida Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Family Organization, will be held on Saturday July 19 at Glenview Champions Country Club in The Villages.
Deb Schlofman founded the tournament in 2001 in Georgia to honor her active, ‘healthy,’ athletic mother, Lily Grace Schlofman, who passed away after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. The tournament was moved to The Villages in 2006.
Daughter Deb, who was active, ‘healthy’ and athletic herself, passed away suddenly from a brain aneurysm in 2009, but Deb’s good friend, Village of Piedmont resident Terry Peach, and her two Georgia friends, Stephanie Truchan and Peggy Emmart, decided to continue the annual tournament and carry on Deb’s mission to raise money for this worthy cause.
“This is not a terribly serious golf tournament,” Terry said. “No one who wants to play should feel intimidated. This is a unique kind of scramble format which employs ‘The Lily’s Bag of Tricks’ — which makes for an enjoyable day for all golfers — from beginners to low handicappers. There are valuable prizes given on all par 3 holes, including golf trips , rounds of golf and cash. Prises are also given for the longest drive, the straightest drive and several closest to the pin locations. Scores are also ‘flighted,’ which is like school marking exams on a curve. This ensures there will be many winners.
Each player is given 17 inches of Lily string, representing Lily’s July 17 birthday, which can be used to extend player’s last shots into the hole. The Mul-Lily-gan is a free hit each player can use anywhere, only once. The Lily Pad Float — Lily walks on Water trick allows each team to drop a ball near where it entered a water hazard, and play it with no penalty stroke taken…and the Hand/Sand Toss allows players to toss one ball out of a sand trap once without being penalized.
No handicap or Villages golf membership is required. The awards dinner takes place immediately after players turn in their score cards and drive their carts to the Savannah Center. “We need several ballrooms there,” Peach said. “The nearly 300 players, sponsors and volunteers just do not fit at the Glenview Champions Country Club restaurant.”
“We make more money from sponsorships and personal donations than we do from the golf,” Peach said. “Local businesses are generous in their sponsorship, and residents who make $150 donations may post tribute signs commemorating friends or loved ones once on each of the three nine-hole course segments for viewing all by the players. The largest 2014 sponsor is the Jenkins Auto Group.
The Lily raised $51,000 in 2013, and more than $336,800 since its inception in 2001. Its purpose is not only to help fund Alzheimer’s research, but also to raise awareness of the disease, provide education about its warning signs and provide support for patients and their caregivers.
“I think Deb and Lily would be proud and have smiles on their faces to see that The Lily tournament is still going on,” Peach said. “When Deb created this tournament, she knew it wouldn’t help her Mom, but hoped she could help someone else’s mother, father or friend.”
Registration for the 14th annual ‘The Lily’ Tournament began in March and is open to the public. The $90 per player ticket fee includes golf, dinner and awards at the Savannah Center in The Villages. Some special tricks are included in this scramble format to make the games friendlier and more fun for golfers of all abilities.
A total of 220 women can play. Limited space is still available for golfers on a first-come, first-served basis. Peach also keeps a waiting list, from which to fill any cancellations.
Sponsorships are also still available. To register for the event, visit thelily.org. or call Terry Peach at 352 753-5799.
Ten Telltale Signs of Possible Alzheimer’s Disease
1. Memory loss severe enough to disrupt daily living.
2. Inability to plan ahead or solve problems.
3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks.
4.Confusion about time and place: losing track of dates, seasons, and the passage of time.
5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships: e.g., inaccurate reading, depth perception and judgment.
6. Problems with speaking and writing words.
7. Misplacing things and inability to re-trace one’s steps.
8. Decreased or poor decisions: e.g., about money, grooming, personal hygiene.
9. Social withdrawal
10. Mood changes: including confusion, fear, anxiety or mistrust.