Curt Groebner is passionate about golf—and fighting cancer. So passionate that he convinced 3 friends to play golf with him, once a year, for 24 hours straight. For 10 years. In the process he raised over $68,000, much of it for GO2 for Lung Cancer.
“In our fourth year, my uncle was diagnosed with lung cancer,” explained Groebner. “In light of that and the fact that I had lost two grandparents to lung cancer, it made me realize that was something I wanted to fight for.” Groebner added that as he did more research, the disproportionate lack of attention to lung cancer made him even more committed to the cause.
“There’s a huge opportunity to save lives and there’s a glaring need to invest more in research, more in health, and help people more,” he said.
A Unique 5K Your Way
After raising $12,927 in Year 10 of his 24-hour golf marathon, Groebner and his friends hung up their long-distance cleats. And Groebner went looking for his next golf fundraising challenge. The pandemic, ironically, gave him a unique opportunity to try something new.
Because of social distancing, GO2 for Lung Cancer in 2020 created the virtual 5K Your Way to bring the community of event participants together. Groebner, of course, turned it into a speed golfing event.
“My thought was to sprint the golf course and play as fast as I could on foot. I ran a little over 5K while playing a round of golf.” He completed his challenge in 43 minutes and raised another $3,650 for GO2 for Lung Cancer.
“It went very well because GO2 for Lung Cancer has an awesome platform where I could run all my fundraising efforts through them,” he said. “Not only could I keep track of the leaderboard, but it also had all of their lung cancer information in one place.”
A New Golf Marathon
This August, GO2 for Lung Cancer is holding a virtual golf marathon to help fund research, provide advocacy training, and provide free education and support services to patients and their loved ones. In developing the event, GO2 for Lung Cancer’s Events team reached out to Groebner for advice on holding a successful golf fundraiser. His number one recommendation: Make it fun.
“I think we learned from the 5K Your Way that just allowing people the ability to customize their own fundraisers opens up so many doors to let them pick something that fits perfectly,” he said. “Hopefully, this attracts more people to want to set one up—and also have more fun with it.”
As for Groebner? His golf marathon will truly be a marathon. He’s in the process of mapping out a 6-state, 6-course route that will allow him to play 108 holes of golf in 3 days. And, yes, he’s planning to include a speed-golf round in there too.
Want to play your favorite golf (or mini golf) for a good cause? Learn more about GO2 for Lung Cancer’s Golf Marathon, August 20–22, and how you can play your way to help end lung cancer.
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