As Chris Currie tees up for his first of 100 holes for the Golfathon for ALS, he knows who he'll be thinking of.
Currie's father was diagnosed with ALS last October.
"It hits a little closer to my heart," said Currie, the golf sales manager for Westin Bear Mountain Golf Course. "He's still around, but what a struggle."
There's no history of the disease in Currie's family so when his father, 74 and living on Prince Edward Island, received his diagnoses it was a shock. Since then his condition has been worsening. His father is still up and active but he now has trouble with speech and eating.
"They put a timeline about how many years he has left, but you don't really want to talk about that," Currie said. "Tough disease, tough to watch."
Currie and three of the pros at the course (Wayne Prusky, Jordan Fletcher and Jordan Ray) will put on their golf shoes and stretch it out at about 4 a.m. on Tuesday, June 18 as they head out to play 100 holes of golf by the time the sun sets.
"The whole theory is we're lending our muscles for a day, because they're obviously losing their muscle strength," Currie said. "I'm hoping not to lose 100 balls, to be honest."
The team will play non-stop, eating meals in the form of take-out. They said they will play properly, foregoing casual mulligans and more or less keeping score.
The goal is to raise $5,000 for the ALS Society of B.C. which provides research into the cause of and cure for the disease, along with support for patients and their families.
"We get support from our members, both from a fundraising point of view, but also from a ‘we're getting in their way’ point of view," Currie said. "We kind of just buzz around."
This is the second time Bear Mountain is participating in the PGA B.C.'s Golfathon, an event only open to golf pros. The event, which has been going for eight years, sees courses from across the province have their pros tee up for the good cause.
Currie plans to travel to PEI four days after the Golfathon to visit, and golf with, his father.
Anyone interested in donating through the Bear Mountain team can visit golfathonforals.ca or the pro shop at Bear Mountain.