Pros, celebrities raise money in fight against cancer

The setting was gorgeous, the golf was great and the cause even greater.

Four pros teamed with four celebrities – three from the area – for a nine-hole exhibition Monday at the Coeur d’Alene Resort to cap a weekend of fundraising events.

Alex Prugh, the Ferris High grad who is splitting time between the PGA and Web.com tours, teamed with Indian Canyon pro Gary Lindeblad to win the Showcase exhibition but the biggest win comes in the form of a check for more than $500,000 donated to the Community Cancer Fund.

“The cause (is important), and especially when it’s your hometown. The Inland Northwest always has that place in my heart,” said Prugh, whose dad, Steve, the pro at Manito, carried his clubs. “Whenever you can support and help out here it’s something you’re always willing to do.”

PGA Tour Canada money leader Joel Dahmen is a cancer survivor, as is Lindeblad. At Sunday’s dinner and auction, Dahmen said it was emotional to watch videos detailing the stories of people battling the disease.

“There are so many people affected by it,” said Dahmen, who lost his mother to cancer. “You realize you’re not alone. A few of those videos, especially of those kids, man … I’m just glad I could help out.”

Dahmen, a Clarkston native, helped even more by purchasing a Seahawks helmet with player signatures at the auction.

Dahmen was paired with former WSU Cougar and Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien. Kyle Stanley and ex-Gonzaga great Dan Dickau were teammates and Jhonny Vegas was joined by former Green Bay/Minnesota kicker Ryan Longwell.

The pros, particularly Vegas, made strong efforts to be part of the Showcase. Prugh was in town for less than 24 hours and he’s off to a Web.com tournament in Portland. Stanley and Prugh missed the cut at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C. Dahmen is heading to a Canadian Tour event in Ontario.

Vegas finished tied for eighth at the Wyndham to earn a spot in the FedEx playoffs and secure his 2015 tour card. He flew from North Carolina on Sunday evening and was scheduled to leave Monday afternoon for the Barclays in New Jersey. In between, he helped with a clinic, posed for pictures and played in the exhibition, seemingly with a smile glued to his face.

“When I woke up this morning and saw the lake and the mountains, it kind of made the trip worth coming all this way,” Vegas said. “It’s a good cause and it’s something good to spend your time and effort on.”

The four teams played an alternate shot format. The event was fairly low key: Vegas borrowed one of Stanley’s clubs on the second hole and the Stanley-Dickau team casually marked their ball on one green with a tee.

That’s not to imply there weren’t memorable shots. Dickau cozied a chip shot within five feet from a tough, downhill lie and little green to work with on the 225-yard 17th, which served as the second hole. Stanley holed the putt for an unlikely par.

“One thing as a basketball player I was pretty creative,” Dickau said. “I’d like to think I’m the same on the golf course. There was one little area I wanted to land that shot and luckily I hit it.”

On the par-5 11th, the sixth hole of the exhibition, Prugh dropped an approach from 83 yards within 3 feet and Lindeblad made the birdie putt. Seconds later Vegas, from roughly 80 yards, hit it close enough for a pick-it-up birdie. Rypien followed Dahmen’s nifty chip by draining a 5-footer for birdie on the par-5 first hole.

Stanley, who grew up in western Washington, has been hooked on Gonzaga basketball since his fifth-grade teacher at St. Charles in Tacoma let the class watch GU’s 1999 NCAA tournament games instead of assigning homework.

Stanley was thrilled with the caddy assignments: former Zag great Adam Morrison toted his bag. Stanley said he’s a big fan of Morrison’s and he later posted a picture on Twitter with Morrison, Dickau and Blake Stepp.

“It’s amazing to watch (the pros) swing a club,” Lindeblad said. “It was a delight to be able to play. Just an incredible event and an incredible facility.”