Golfers inspired to help cancer survivors at Cologuard Classic's lively 15th hole

The 15th hole at La Paloma Country Club is the place to be at the Cologuard Classic by Exact Sciences.

Three grandstands ring the green at the par-4 hole. One is the “Patriots’ Outpost” for military veterans. Another is “Survivor Central,” a meeting place for survivors of colorectal cancer and family members who’ve lost loved ones.

They have birdie’s-eye view not only of the green but the tote board updating how much money is being raised to sponsor survivors to attend next year’s tournament.

Through the first two rounds, the tournament donated $1,500 for every birdie made. That total was 15 entering Sunday’s final round, worth $22,500.

For Round 3 on Sunday, the Cologuard Classic decided to up the ante. The tournament donated $3,000 for every birdie, with a cap of $50,000.

“I was fortunate enough to make one today,” Ernie Els said after his round Saturday. “I saw the board and I saw the dollar signs there.”

Els pulled off his cap to show the blue ribbon representing a man named Brad, who’s been walking with Els’ group. Brad is a stage-4 survivor of colorectal cancer.

“It’s just wonderful to see the fight they have,” Els said.

Survivors and family members came from all over the country to attend the Cologuard Classic. A wall inside Survivor Central features a map of the United States where people can place a pin to indicate where they’re from. As of Saturday afternoon, 22 states were represented.

“A couple guys were talking about it in the locker room,” second-round leader Greg Chalmers said of the “Birdies for Survivors” program. “If there’s an element of trying harder, they’re certainly doing that.”

Cologuard ambassador Jerry Kelly birdied No. 15 on Friday, his fourth birdie in a row on the hole dating to last year’s event. But that would be his last opportunity. Kelly had to withdraw Saturday morning after injuring his shoulder

“I didn’t necessarily feel something pop, but I was one-arm swinging it those last three holes,” Kelly told Golf Channel in an interview from Survivor Central.

“It hurt pretty bad and it got worse once I stopped and the adrenaline stopped.”

Kelly said he suffered a tear in his shoulder but that the injury wouldn’t require surgery. He preferred to talk about those suffering from more serious health conditions.

“All we’re trying to do is get people screened early,” said Kelly, who donated $1,501 for his first-round birdie. “One out of 10 survive late detection — but nine out of 10 survive early detection.

“If you’re 45, please get tested. If you have family history, you’ve got the ability to get tested earlier.

“This is the second-leading cancer between men and women in the United States and we don’t talk about it that much. Every other cancer seems to get its day. This is this cancer’s day right here.”

It’s a boy!

Stewart Cink’s son and daughter-in-law, Reagan and Olivia Cink, are expecting a newborn in September. The younger Cinks held a gender reveal party in Atlanta on Sunday, while Reagan’s father teed off for the final round of the Cologuard Classic.

The Cinks cut into a blue cake at the gender reveal party and discovered they’re having a son, Stewart Cink’s first grandson; Cink also has two granddaughters. Cink wore a baby blue polo to honor his grandson on Sunday.

Heavy traffic

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If you’re planning to attend next year’s Cologuard Classic, tread carefully on the cart path between the clubhouse and the 18th green.

Carts come through seemingly every minute carrying players, their caddies and volunteers. Volunteers working behind the 18th green do a good job of warning pedestrians and advising them to get out of the way.

Based on the way the course is currently routed — players have to take that path to get from No. 15 to No. 16 — the traffic is unavoidable. It’s been a topic of discussion among course officials.

Everybody loves (Ted) Raymond

Heath Slocum, Boo Weekley and defending Cologuard Classic champion Joe Durant reunited with “an icon” they hadn’t seen in decades.

Ted Raymond, a 93-year-old retired writer for Northwest Florida Daily News and “Golfweek” magazine, trekked down from his home in Phoenix to see Slocum, Weekley and Durant before the Cologuard Classic.

Raymond covered golf in the Florida panhandle for the Northwest Florida Daily News and developed a relationship with Slocum and Weekley, who were teammates at Milton High School in Milton, Florida near the Alabama border.

“He’s been following our career since we were teenagers,” said the 51-year-old Slocum. “Through college, he kept tabs and would write about the locals that were doing well. ... He was the OG for writing about us. Everyone knew Ted.”

Raymond “was everywhere — I mean, the whole panhandle” covering rising golfers in Northern Florida, Weekley said.

Weekley has known Raymond “for over 30 years” and called Raymond “a feisty little thing.”

“He was always wanting to argue,” Weekley said. “He wasn’t even trying to pick a fight, but wanted to get a rise out of you. But that was his whole demeanor.”

In addition to his sportswriting career, Raymond served in the U.S. Air Force from 1949-52 and served in Korea, Panama and Puerto Rico. He later became an actor and had roles in “The Truman Show,” a 1988 movie with Jim Carrey as the lead actor, “Raising Buchanan” and “Better Call Saul,” a spin-off TV show of “Breaking Bad.”

“We just watched (Better Call Saul) and I was like, ‘Wait, I know that dude!’” Weekley said.

Raymond, Weekley, Slocum and Durant “had communicated, but it had been many, many years” since they saw each other. After decades of not seeing each other, Raymond “looks exactly the same,” Slocum said. Standing on the patio facing the 18th green at La Paloma Country Club, “we talked about old times, where we started, how we’ve done and family,” Slocum said.

“We talked about life and old stories came up,” Slocum added. “We reminisced about the good ol’ days. … He’s still witty as hell. It was amazing to see him. For him to take two hours out of his time to drive down to see us again, that’s pretty cool.”

Slocum added: “He’s been in movies and this guy has lived an incredible life. To settle down in Fort Walton and write about us and to care so much about the people he wrote about, he was a part of the culture where we grew up. … He has lived a cool life.

“He’s just an icon.”

They said it

“I had a coffee and a donut and shot 27 for nine holes. That put all of the athleticism and dieting and all of the right things out the window.” — Padraig Harrington, on the lowest round he’s scored at any level (via PGA Tour Champions social media)

By the numbers

73 degrees: Temperature when Chalmers, Cink and Alex Cejka teed off at 12:17 p.m. on Sunday, a 20-degree difference from the opening round on Friday.

$6,000: Money raised for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona via the Cologuard Classic by Exact Science’s food and monetary donations program. Fans who paid a minimum $5 donation to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona received a free ticket to the second round of the Cologuard Classic on Saturday. Exact Sciences also donated an additional $10,000 to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

350: Over 350 colorectal cancer survivors were in attendance for the Cologuard Classic.

Photos: 2025 Cologuard Classic, round 2