Homes for Our Troops holds golf tourney to benefit injured veterans

(ROCKWALL, TX — May 14, 2016) Yesterday Homes for Our Troops hosted its third Golf Challenge tournament at the Rockwall Golf and Athletic Club benefiting veterans severely injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. 20 teams comprised of 80 players competed in the tournament, which grossed approximately $20,000.

The winners from the tournament included:
First place team Troy Eavenson, Dave Michie, Eddie Hill, and Michael Harkrider with a 57;
Second place team Terry Heuman, Michael Campbell, Jerry Lancaster and Rick Lindsey with a 58;
Third place team David Silva, Dale Prodahl, David Grubbs and Dennis Cain with a 59;
Closest to the pin on hole # 3 Roger Musser
Closest to the pin on hole # 5 Dale Prodahl
Closest to the pin on hole # 14 Dennis Cain
Closest to the pin on hole # 17 David Jackson
Longest Drive for those under 65 years of age on hole # 1 Jay Humphrey
Longest Drive for those 65 years of age and above on hole # 11 Harold Eavenson

Founded in 2004, Homes for Our Troops (HFOT) has a mission to provide mortgage-free, specially adapted homes nationwide for injured veterans. According to their website, “Most of these Veterans have sustained injuries including multiple limb amputations, partial or full paralysis, and/or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). These homes restore some of the freedom and independence our Veterans sacrificed while defending our country, and enable them to focus on their family, recovery, and rebuilding their lives.”

HFOT Golf Challenge Coordinator and Rockwall County Sheriff Harold Eavenson said yesterday’s tournament grossed higher than ever for a very worthy cause.

“Homes for our Troops has built specially designed homes for over 200 severely injured veterans all over the United States,” Eavenson said. “The first tournament we sponsored three years ago was for a severely injured veteran who lost both his legs below the knees in Afghanistan. We decided that it was such a worthwhile cause to do this for those who have given so much for us that we would make it an annual event. The money raised from this tournament will go to assist HFOT in building a home for a veteran in Mansfield, Texas. We will gross approximately $20,000.00 from this tournament which is about $6,000.00 greater that our previous best.”

Eavenson said HFOT has even higher hopes for expanding the Golf Challenge and benefiting more troops in the coming years.

“Our plans for next year include having a Title Sponsor and possibly two Corporate Sponsors. This would permit us to have a chance to gross 40K or more. I have already been contacted by an interested party who knows of a corporation that is interested in talking with me about such a sponsorship. We have had discussions with the North Texas Professional Golfers Association regarding a possible partnership on our tournament next year. Kit Thomson, Director of Golf Operations at the Rockwall Golf & Athletic Club and I have coordinated each of the three HFOT tournaments. We intend to continue to make this tournament more profitable each year.

“We believe it is really beginning to build momentum and our long-term goal is to gross $100,000.00. I have been involved in coordinating a significant number of fund raiser golf tournaments in the past 25 years but have never been involved in one that I derived as much satisfaction from as I have from the HFOT tournament.”

Story by Julie Anne White, Blue Ribbon News reporter. Photos provided by Sheriff Harold Eavenson.

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