Golfing with Friends

St. John Lutheran holds annual outing at Wildwood

Staff Report

CHARLES CITY — They may have ridiculed her Ty Cobb-like, hands-apart golf grip, but when Danielle Hillegas left a 25-foot putt less than foot from the ninth hole cup at Wildwood Municipal Golf Course, she had every right to bellow the last laugh.

“So how do you like that?” she said to teammates Josh and Holden Hillegas, and Brody Stone, who made up one of 13 four-person, best-ball teams participating in the St. John Lutheran Church’s annual outing to support the Floyd County Cancer Friends on Wednesday.

We’ve been holding benefit golf outings for some time,” said Greg Heidebrink, who is a member of the St. John Board of Stewardship, which organizes the event.

“The causes have changed over the years,” Heidebrink said. “This is the second year we’ve done this for (FC Cancer Friends). It’s a great organization.

FC Cancer Friends helps cover travel, hotel and other expenses for families who have someone battling cancer.

“For team participation, this has been our best outing so far,” Heidebrink said.

In addition to Closest to the Pin and Longest Drive awards, winning and high-placing teams had first dibs on the collection of prizes on display in Wildwood’s clubhouse.

“All this have been donated from local businesses,” Heidebrink said. “We’re going to try to make sure everyone walks out of here with something. It may not be what they wanted, but it will be something.”

Heidebrink expressed thanks to Wildwood and the city in keeping the green and cart fees down so the cost of the 9-hole tournament plus meal event was only $25 per golfer.