The Ringer 2019: 100 Holes of Hope

The Story Behind the Ringer

$130,000 dollars raised, 1800 holes of golf played, 570+ unique donors, 18 golfers, all for one cause—CURE childhood cancer and blood disorders.

On April 25, 2019, a group of determined golf enthusiasts took to The Bog to play 100 holes of golf in a single day, all to benefit the MACC Fund in an event called The Ringer!  The event name “The Ringer” is symbolic of a child going through the unthinkable journey of battling cancer and BEATING it!!  Upon the completion of a successful childhood cancer or blood disorder treatment protocol, children are given the chance to physically RING THE BELL which hangs from the wall in the MACC Fund Center at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, to signify they have BEAT their cancer or blood disorder. This monumental moment in a child’s life was the inspiration for starting The Ringer.

The event truly begins long before the first peg is in the ground, with the 18 Ringers setting up their personal fundraising profiles and disseminating them throughout their networks.  As the days and weeks pass, the weather warms, and the fundraising totals climb, so does the excitement for day they all congregate at The Bog to play 100 holes of golf!  The final week of fundraising was exhilarating to watch as the total amount raised grew from $103,000 to $130,000!

The Big Day

As the big day arrived, the players checked in, greeted one another over breakfast, and received their gift package courtesy of TaylorMade Golf©!  The excitement was at an all-time high, and there was nothing left to do now but GOLF! The day turned out to be spectacular.  Eleven out of the eleven-and-a-half hours it took to play were perfect; sunny, light winds, and temps in the low 60s—you couldn’t ask for a better day when having to play 100 holes of golf!

For those of you doing the math at home, 100 holes equates to five 18-hole rounds, one 9-hole round, and one extra hole! The owner and operator of the Bog, Mike Hammes, who participates as one of the 18 Ringers, shuts the entire golf course down for the day to host the event!  There are not many folks generous enough to close a public golf course on a warm spring day in Wisconsin to help a charitable cause. Furthermore, throughout the course of play, the Bog staff arranges for a variety of food, drinks, and player gifts to be delivered to the golfers, helping to provide a world class golf experience.

Thank You

The 2019 Ringer golf outing proved to be another massively impactful day for the MACC Fund, and the world of childhood cancer and blood disorders research. Dr. Margolis noted at a recent MACC Fund board meeting, “Proper funding means never having to miss a great research idea”, this event helps us continue to do just that.  It allows for some of the brightest minds in the pediatric cancer and blood disorders research field to never miss out on a good idea!

For all those who worked so hard to make the Ringer a special event, I leave you with this… John Wooden once said, “You can’t live a perfect day until you do something kind for someone that will never be able to repay you…”, by supporting the Ringer, you’ve done exactly that.