This won’t be the typical upbeat golf column readers are used to seeing in this space every Wednesday. When the subject is cancer, a very serious form of cancer, there is no way to put a happy face on the matter at hand.
Bryan Jackson, the superintendent/head pro at Belle Oaks Golf Club, was recently operated on for breast cancer. He’d suspected something was wrong for a good while but tests done 11 months ago, after he’d started bleeding out of a nipple, came back negative.
Recently, however, a knot came up in his chest, kept getting bigger and became painful. He went back to his family doctor who sent him to a specialist — John Schmidt — who immediately ordered surgery. The surgery was done on a Thursday, but the cells that were removed couldn’t be identified and had to be sent to Houston.
On Monday, the results came back and it was the dreaded C word. Cancer. MALIGNANT.
Making matters worse, according to Jackson, Schmidt doesn’t know if he got it all, if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.
Bryan is distraught, which is certainly understandable. He doesn’t have health insurance and says he’s used up all of his and his dad’s life savings in the past few weeks. He’s going to need chemotherapy but there is no insurance and no more money.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said Tuesday. “The cancer must be really bad because the doctor told me he’d never seen cells like that before. I’ve got about a 10-to-12 inch scar across the chest where they removed my left breast.
“My best hope is that because breast cancer is so rare in men they might take me as a guinea pig at M.D. Anderson. The other thing going for me is that I’m on so many prayer lists it’s astounding. All I can do now is put it in God’s hands.”
Most of those reading this, I’m guessing, know Bryan Jackson and like him. He’s a big, affable, easy-going guy who’s worked in the golf business in Southeast Texas for the last quarter century at Wildwood Golf Club, Brentwood Country Club, The Palms at Pleasure Island and Belle Oaks.
He built a deserved reputation as being great at taking care of greens. Of late, his legacy has been bringing storm-ravaged Belle Oaks back from two devastating hurricanes. It’s a tribute to him that Belle Oaks, in co-owner Jerry Braxton’s words, is the best it’s been since he and Brian Phelps have owned it.
As of today, meanwhile, Jackson needs the help of the golfing community. This, then, is a first shout out for folks who want to get involved in a fund-raising tournament. At this point, there is no date, no plan, only the desire to use this platform to help put something together than can raise substantial dollars.
The only people I’ve talked to thus far are Braxton and Babe Zaharias pro Ed Campbell. Braxton is going to make Belle Oaks available for whatever date we select and Campbell will do whatever is needed from an organizational standpoint.
Anybody else willing to contribute in any way should e-mail me at rdwest@usa.net. We can’t raise enough to offset massive medical costs, but we can surely put together something to help a good guy who is in desperate need.
CHIP SHOTS: Chris Stroud finished No. 113 on the PGA Tour money list after results were tabulated from the 2009 season’s final event last weekend. His official earnings were $735,019. The player on the No. 125 cutoff line was Jimmy Walker at $662,683. Some of the prominent names who came up short were Jeff Maggert (128), David Duval (130), Stuart Appleby (137), Tom Lehman (142) and Rocco Mediate (145) . . . Area hopefuls Michael Arnaud, Anthony Broussard and Shawn Stefani tee it up Wednesday at Deerwood Golf Club in one of five 72-hole PGA Tour School second stage qualifiers. If any or all of the trio can finish in the top 20, they move on to the final stage two weeks hence in Florida. Stroud won the second stage at Deerwood last year. Lamar ex Casey Clendenon is playing in the second stage qualifier at Craig Ranch in McKinney . . . Twyman Ash, with 6 points, won the Monday Seniors at Belle Oaks. Larry Guidry was second with 5 points and Jim Brown third with one point. Dennis Neef won closest to the pin at No. 5 . . . The Seniors at The Babe was played in a team points format. Finishing first at plus 17 was the foursome of Art Lecoq, Dickie Robinson, Gene Hardy and John Dufour. Second at plus 13 was the team of Mike Lansford, Mike Hess, LJ. Hardy and Charlie Ingraham. Third at plus 11 was the team of Larry Stansbury, Jesse Evans, Paul Brown and Bernie Johnson. Closest to the pin winners were Gene Hardy (No. 2), Lansford (No. 7), Harrel Guidry (No. 12) and Tommy Holland (No. 15) . . . The Patch Senior game was played in a 2 Best Ball format. On the front side, the team of R.J. Simon, Riley Landry, Charles Scott and Malcolm Clark won with plus 1. On the back, the foursome of Tommy Prejean, Adam Noel, Roland Geoffroy and Allen Suire won at minus 1. The Patch Senior game is now accepting players age 55 and over . . . The Bayou Din DogFight was played in a 6-6-6 format. Larry Stansbury-Bill Hanley teamed to win 1st Flight with a 66, John Alaniz-Tom O’Grady took 2nd Flight with a 71, Bryant Grant-Don Smith prevailed in 3rd Flight with a 74 and Auggie Segura-David Sturgal grabbed 4th Flight with a 77 . . .The Babe Zaharias DogFight used an all points count format. There was a tie for first between the team of Hilario Padia, James Gordon, Mike Legg and Don Nebel (30&8) and the foursome of Mike Lansford, Larry Johnson, Buddy Silcox and Dave Sturgal (23&4). Three teams tied for third. Closest to the pin winners were David Arnaud (No. 2), Lansford (No. 7, No. 12) and Padia (No. 15.
Golf news should be faxed to 724-6854 or e-mailed to rdwest@usa.net.
