The Vandegrift Girl’s golf team competed in the Swing for the Cure tournament this past Friday and Saturday to raise awareness and donations for breast cancer.

“The strength of the field kind of gives us a good idea of where we stand against some of the better teams in the state,” golf Coach Wernecke said. “This is the first one of the year so we kind of see where we are and what we need to get better at and where we stand in relation to other teams that we need to beat later in the spring for the state tournament.”

The tournament was started about 6 years ago by the Northeast ISD schools. The purpose of the tournament is to raise money for the Susan Cullman foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on cancer, through the entry fees and other donations.

“Yeah, donations, and it just raises more awareness,” junior Story Shaw said. “We all get the shirts from the tournament and we take a big photo. I think all the schools donate money to it.”

The tournament spans 2 days, with the first day having 36 holes, the second day 18 holes. The first day has twice the amount of holes than a normal tournament, involving 8 hours out on the course.

“It was a lot of fun but 36 holes was hard, to walk that,” Shaw said. “By the end I was dying.”

The tournament carries a special meaning in comparison to other tournaments due to its deeper purpose involving breast cancer.

“In the beginning they gather everyone around to say prayers to all people- they pray for people who have breast cancer and stuff like that, which is different from any other tournament,” Shaw said.

While it affects some stronger than others, the tournament helps the girls become closer through their first tournament of the year.

“Some of the girls in the past have had family members who struggle with breast cancer, so it has different meanings for different people,” Coach Wernecke said. “Other than that it’s a good tournament. It’s the first one so girls get to travel and bond. We’re super young this year, we have a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, so any experience good experience.”

The team never loses sight of the deep meaning of the tournament however. Each player has their own personal motivation and story that stays with them when they play.

“I have a cousin,” senior Sarah Rovenstine said. “His name’s Vaun, he’s in fifth grade. He’s cancer free now but when he was young he had cancer. It makes you kind of think about him. During the round it’ll be a time of reflection. Instead of just playing to win it’ll be more like thinking about cancer and everything.”