It has been nearly a year since the color pink dominated the Quail Run Golf Course, so residents can now get ready for the 2024 Pink Ribbon Golf Tournament Fundraiser. The fundraiser will be Thursday, Dec. 5, at 9774 Alabama Ave., and there is still time to sign up as either a sponsor or a player.

Last year’s event raised more than $14,000 for Breast Believe, a breast awareness campaign of The Larry Fitzgerald Foundation. Fitzgerald, a star NFL football player with ties to Arizona, launched Breast Believe in 2022. The organization’s goal is to educate communities about early detection, prevention, symptoms, treatments, resources and access surrounding a breast cancer diagnoses, according to the group’s website. For more information about the foundation and its co-founding partners, visit thelarryfitzgeraldfoundation.org/pages/breast-believe. This year the golfers hope to raise $20,000.

Although the tournament is fun under the sun, the goal is very serious. Just this year, 310,720 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 90 percent of those diagnosed will be women, 10 percent men.

Each year, the Quail Run Ladies 9-Hole Golf League has sponsored a Pink Ribbon Tournament and since 2012 has raised more than $65,000 to help people in their fight against this mind and body-crippling disease. Throughout those years, there have been positive results with early diagnoses and treatment and the Quail Run Ladies 9-Hole Golf League is proud of the role it has played in drawing attention and much-needed donations to the cause.

The morning begins with a Parade of Pink and entrants are encouraged to decorate their golf cars. There are two shotgun starts on the day of the tournament — 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. — and there are plenty of challenges with everything from the drive closest to the pin, the most accurate drive and the longest first putt on the green. New this year is the opportunity to win a new golf car if the successful players hit a hole-in-one on hole 3. In addition, golfers can purchase two Mulligans and two Magic Putts for $20. Also, for a donation, each participant can hire a pro-golfer who will be on site to smack the ball on the really-long par 5-hole, number 2.

After a morning of challenging golf, there will be a catered lunch provided by A.J.’s Catering. During the luncheon, tournament officials will recognize those women and men who have survived breast cancer. Last year, Marilyn LeClair, of Sun City, celebrated 36 years cancer free. In addition to cash prizes for the golf champions, there will be a raffle of gift boxes and cards, a 50/50 raffle and a silent auction of world class experiences.

For those interested in being a sponsor, a donation of $100 per hole gets an individual or company’s name on that hole. A $1,000 donation is rewarded with a sponsorship banner displayed at the course, while a $2,500 donation gets a company’s banner displayed at the luncheon venue.

There still is time to register for the tournament or secure a sponsorship. For more information about a sponsorship contact Sue Madden at 480-606-8946. To join in the tournament call Laura Bossart at 480-859-9395. Registration forms can be picked up on the 9-hole Ladies Golf bulletin boards at each course.