New month, new ribbon.

Last month was Ovarian Cancer awareness month. I wrote this post and featured the teal ribbon in the sidebar for the month of September.

October is National Breast Cancer awareness month, so the teal ribbon in the sidebar has been replaced with the well known pink ribbon.

The LPGA and its players are serious supporters of the fight against breast cancer. In fact, the “official national charity” of the LPGA is the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Cristie Kerr stays pink all year

One of my favorite professional golfers, Cristie Kerr, supports breast cancer research year round. She donates $50 for every birdie she makes (193 so far) as part of her ongoing fundraising campaign as well as hosting other charity events for the cause. Cristie’s official website is not a vehicle to promote herself, but a home base for her Birdies for Breast Cancer charity. You can be a part of it by pledging to donate for every birdie she makes or with flat donations.

Yes, there were pinker pictures but as the dog lover I am I just had to use this one of Cristie sporting my favorite color and hugging her dog, Bailey.

Another way to contribute to Birdies for Breast Cancer is by purchasing one of these items. 100% of the proceeds goes to the charity. One of the items is this cute pink Lacoste polo shirt with the Birdies for Breast Cancer logo on the left sleeve. That logo just happens to feature a cute little golf chick(!) and can also be found on the clip-on visor.

Also available are a “Hope” golf head cover and a pink ribbon key tag.

Not your style? These are some great ideas for holiday and birthday gifts for the the female golfer in your life!

Morgan Pressel’s pink shirt

Cristie’s mother survived breast cancer. Sadly, Morgan Pressel wasn’t as fortunate. Morgan also has a pink shirt available to support breast cancer research. She’ll be wearing it in tournaments all month so you can get a good look at it.

From LPGA.com:

New York, NY. June 19, 2007 — Taking pink to the greens, Polo Ralph Lauren and professional golfer Morgan Pressel, introduce a new limited edition polo shirt from the Pink Pony Collection. Designed in support of cancer care and prevention, the “Morgan” shirt reflects Polo Ralph Lauren’s continued commitment to this cause, and carries a personal importance for Pressel.

“The fight against breast cancer is one that has touched me deeply,” says Pressel, who lost her mother to breast cancer in 2003. “I feel proud to be in a position now to help raise additional support and public awareness for the continued importance of this cause.”

Sold at select Ralph Lauren stores and on Polo.com, 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the “Morgan” shirt will go to the Pink Pony Fund of the Polo Ralph Lauren Foundation. The Pink Pony Fund supports programs for early diagnosis, education, treatment and research and is dedicated to bringing patient navigation and excellence in cancer care to medically underserved communities. At Pressel’s request, these funds will be directed to the Boca Raton Community Hospital in Boca Raton, Florida.

In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Pressel will wear the golf shirt during her upcoming October tournaments, including the Longs Drugs Challenge (Oct 1 — 7 in Danville, CA) and the Samsung World Championship (October 8-14 in Palm Desert, CA).

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. I bet there’s a walk or a golf tournament or some other charity event taking place in your hometown to support this campaign. Let’s all get on board.

Next post.

Well, the rain went away in time for my Sunday morning golf outing but plans have a way of changing. Happenings on Saturday night led me to change them. No, I’m not talking about a hangover; I have played some of my best golf with a hangover.

If you read this site much, you may have noticed I blog a lot about various charities. I wish I was in a position that would allow me to do more but I try to do what I can. Saturday night, we went to a charity event. This time, the proceeds benefited UNICEF. The event was a fancy shindig at Ventura Farms, which is owned by David Murdock, the same billionaire who until recently also owned the nearby Sherwood Country Club (the home of Tiger Woods’ tournament, Target World Challenge).

The event was put on by Linsenhoff-Unicef Stiftung, which is a foundation created under the UNICEF umbrella by Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff. There were maybe 15-20 tables of attendees, many of them horse enthusiasts, given the location and the hostess. Ann Kathrin is an accomplished and award winning dressage rider, and her three top dressage horses are the first “four-legged UNICEF ambassadors.” (She is pictured with them below.) All the prize money they win in competition goes directly into UNICEF projects. Ann Kathrin inherited her equestrian talent and passion from her famous mother, (Liselott Linsenhoff, pictured on the right) who was the first female to win a gold medal in an Olympic equestrian event.

Speaking of famous people

Here in LA LA land, of course there were some celebrities at the event. The only one I could put a name to was Jamie Foxx, but there were several others I knew but didn’t know. You know? UNICEF has a lot of famous supporters and this event was no exception. I’m convinced I would have known more names, but some were so strikingly handsome that my brain turned to Jell-o shutting down my recall mechanism.

Golf outings and puppies

I wish I had the money to bid on the golf trip in the auction. It was a stay and play package at Tehama in Carmel. I’m slobbering now just thinking about it. I can’t quite remember how much it went for but I think it was somewhere in the $5000 neighborhood. In any case, it didn’t get as much as the Labradoodle they auctioned off. What an adorable puppy! They let me hold her when they came by our table and she just couldn’t have been sweeter. Apparently puppies are all the rage at auctions these days which is kind of disturbing to me, but at least she’ll have a nice home and probably a nice nanny all her own. And she earned $10,000 for the foundation, 100% of which goes directly to the children.

Speaking of the children

Ann Kathrin gave a passionate presentation about her travels around the world to visit the children in need. Thankfully, she speaks English quite well as most of the guests did not speak German. I was profoundly moved by her speech and the progress she was making with her foundation. I wanted to speak with her about how I might help – perhaps by spreading the word or organizing a golf tournament, for example. It turned out that she was flying back to Germany the next day and the only time she could possibly meet with me was while I was supposed to be somewhere on the back nine. My playing partners kept our tee time but I stayed behind in hopes that she would have the time before her flight to meet with me at her hotel. Unfortunately she didn’t but I look forward to being in touch with her to explore the possibilities.

Time to play golf

Naturally, I had my golf clubs and shoes in the car so I headed over to the municipal course closest to her hotel and walked on at 1:30, played the front nine with a father/daughter combo and the back nine with a nice married couple who had moved here from Germany about 5 years ago. I don’t know what the German connection is – maybe I’m supposed to adopt a German Shepherd. I was finished with my round by 5:00 PM, and that 3 hr 30 min round is probably the fastest I’ve ever played that golf course. Maybe the rain the day before scared everyone away, but it was such a beautiful day to play golf. I’m glad I made it out after all, though halfway through the round I almost wished I’d have rented a golf cart because my dogs were aching after a night of dancing in 4 inch heels – for the children.

Next post.