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thedrifter
03-20-09, 07:43 AM
Marines golf to aid peers in field

Bill Byron
bill.byron@thedesertsun.com

Seventy Marines from the bases at Twentynine Palms, Camp Pendleton, Miramar and Yuma played in their fifth annual American Friends of Our Armed Forces golf tournament this month.

The tournament, held at Terra Lago Country Club in Indio, raises money to support troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The tournament also allows local residents to sponsor a Marine in the tournament, picking up his or her $295 entry fee.

“Valley residents, playing or not, they can sponsor a Marine and give them an opportunity to play in a tournament and on a course that they probably wouldn't have the chance to otherwise,” tournament president and founder Walt VanBenthuysen said. “So we had people from four different bases that drove in to play in the tournament.”

This year's tournament was attended by 232 golfers and raised approximately $150,000 to be used to purchase laptops, DVDs, pre-paid phone cards and similar items for deployed troops.

The keynote speaker at the event's luncheon was Brig. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus, who is the commanding officer at Twentynine Palms.

For information, go to American Fiends of Our Armed Forces Web site at www.afaf usa.com.


Ellie