2020 Tournament
4TH ANNUAL
CRAWFORD FAMILY CHARITY
GOLF TOURNAMENT
We returned to the scenic Raven Golf Club in Phoenix on February 21, 2020 for the 4th annual tournament. A full field of 144 golfers, including players from six of the Arizona based MLB teams made for a competitive field.
Proceeds Funded Research Facilitated by ALS CURE Project Again
For the second year all net proceeds went to ALS CURE Project, to fund research objectives on their Roadmap to Cure ALS.
2020 TOURNAMENT CONTEST WINNERS
Low Gross Team: Matt McCormick, Ted Bacci and Dr. Jim Downey
Low Net Team: John Chovanec, Phil Dalton, Mike Crawford and Amy Cole
Closest to Pin- Brad Silva
Long Drive- Nolan Arenado
DR. BOB BOWSER, PHD, DEPUTY CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER, BARROW NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTE
Dr. Bowser, an internationally recognized leader in ALS research discussed research efforts to discover and validate biomarkers for ALS.
JOHN FRATES, FATHER OF PETE FRATES, INSPIRATION FOR THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE
John and son Andrew Frates travelled from Beverly, MA to participate in the tournament. Although he had just lost his son Pete to ALS a few months earlier, John delivered an inspiring speech about progress and hope that have resulted in part due to the incredible awareness and fundraising efforts of Pete Frates, ALS Warrior, who championed the Ice Bucket Challenge
JEREMY AFFELDT, FORMER GIANTS PITCHER AND THREE TIME WORLS SERIES CHAMPION
Jeremy introduced his friend Kevin Heller, in a speech that was at times hilarious, and yet emotional, and a perfect introduction to Kevin.
KEVIN HELLER, ALS WARRIOR, ADVOCATE AND LOU GEHRIG DAY PIONEER
Kevin and his family, from Menlo Park, California, were honored guests at our February 2020 event in Phoenix. He had been diagnosed less than 8 months earlier, and although able to participate as a golfer, Kevin had lost the ability to speak well before the tournament (rapid loss of speech is common with the bulbar onset form of ALS that he had). Nevertheless, he embraced the challenge to be a guest speaker at our post-golf banquet. Anyone who attended that evening will tell you Kevin's voice was loud and clear, and he delivered a very powerful, inspirational speech (with the assistance of Google's brand new 'Project Euphonia' AI technology that enabled his speech to be recorded in his own voice rather than the robotic voice that most are familiar with).
At the conclusion of Kevin's pre-recorded speech, he went off script to advocate for an MLB league-wide Lou Gehrig Day. (Kevin's speech can be seen/heard in the video at the bottom of the site Homepage, along with the introduction by Jeremy Affeldt, and John Frates' inspiring speech. Ultimately, contributions by Kevin and others on the Lou Gehrig Day Committee helped make Major League Baseball's annual, league-wide Lou Gehrig Day a reality. (Learn more about Lou Gehrig Day here.)
CHRIS PROUDFOOT, ALS WARRIOR AND ADVOCATE
We were pleased to have Chris Proudfoot, an amazing ALS advocate and fundraiser in the Arizona area, and his mother Helga as our guests.
