Allenby and Turning Stone raise awareness for cancer
Tiger Woods may be best-known for his many hues of red but Robert Allenby traditionally wears a pink shirt on Sunday to honor his mother, who died earlier this year after a bout with cancer.
So Allenby brought some extra paraphernalia to the Turning Stone Resort Championship to make sure he was prepared for Thursday's "Pink-Out" event held in conjunction with the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness month.
"I'm not afraid to wear pink," the affable Australian said. "I've got a pink shirt for (Thursday) and also got a pink jumper as well. They even gave us some pink socks. So that'll look good with black."
Among the beneficiaries of the tournament is the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of Central New York. One of her sons, actor Stephen Baldwin, played in Wednesday's pro-am with country singer Trace Adkins. Both his mother and his sister are survivors of the disease.
"I'm just so grateful to the Turning Stone organization for, again, continuing to do all the incredible philanthropy that they do, and I truly believe that they have been as successful and blessed as they have been in the many years that they have been giving back to the community here locally, I think it's largely to do with the fact that they really do give as much as they do," Baldwin said.
"They have been over the moon incredible to the Carolyn Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, and that is why myself and my family and my brothers continue to always make our best effort to do whatever we can for the Turning Stone and their organization."
Allenby has also pledged $25,000 to promote breast cancer research in West Palm Beach, Fla., which is his U.S. base of operations. There was a women's fishing tournament in the area last weekend to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation and while Allenby was unable to participate, he did attend the gala on Saturday evening.
"I just asked how much are we going to raise here tonight and all that sort of stuff and they said they're hoping to get about $50,000," Allenby said. "So obviously knowing that the Presidents Cup was coming up and we get a fair amount of money to donate to charity and stuff, so I donated $25,000."
Allenby will be playing for the International Team in The Presidents Cup at Harding Park next week. Players are not compensated for their participation but they do receive money to donate to charity.
Alleby, who has been an advocate for children with cancer since he was a teenager, is appreciate of the efforts tournaments like the Turning Stone Resort Championship make to help support charities throughout the country.
"Obviously we're very fortunate as players on the PGA TOUR that every week, every tournament that we come to, the local gathering that we get at each tournament raises a significant amount of money for charities, and obviously this week is definitely going to a fantastic cause," Allenby said.
"With the likes of Phil and Amy Mickelson, that really put, at least for the PGA TOUR, it definitely put breast cancer awareness more out there, and it's definitely becoming more and more prominent. ...
"I'm unfortunate that my mom passed away early this year from cancer. And you know, it's going to get us all, and the more awareness we can put out there, whether it's breast cancer or any type of cancer, I mean obviously the scientists and all that are all everyone's working as hard as they can in all different areas to try and find a cure for this terrible disease."
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FAN ZONE
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