SACRAMENTO, CA – On November 2, 2008 more that one hundred golfers teed off at the first Swing for Sight Charity Golf Tournament with Derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs to raise money and awareness for vision research being done at the University of Iowa through Project 3000.
Held at the Catta Verdera Country Club, the event featured dozens of Major League Baseball and sports celebrities including Nomar Garciaparra, CC Sabathia, Dusty Baker, Ronnie Lott, Michael Johnson, and Mia Hamm, to name a few. Professional Golf Association Tour pros Tom Pernice, Jr. and Kevin Sutherland played in the tournament and put on a remarkable clinic for the participants. Brooke Pernice, Tom Pernice’s 14 year-old daughter who has been blind since birth, also sang for the crowd at the Tournament’s Pairing Party.
“The proceeds generated from the first Swing for Sight Charity Golf Tournament will go a long way to help us reach our goal of finding all 3000 people with Leber congenital amaurosis, a rare blinding retinal disease, and all the remaining LCA-causing genes,” said Lee.
Dr. Ed Stone, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at The University of Iowa added, “Derrek and Christina (Lee) are incredible advocates for fighting blinding eye diseases and LCA. Their efforts are making a huge difference in our progress toward finding a cure.” Stone directs the UI’s John and Marcia Carver Nonprofit Genetic Testing Laboratory where the genetic testing portion of Project 3000 is conducted.
The founding sponsor of the golf tournament was Genovese Burford & Brothers, with additional sponsors including Vision Service Plan, Halcyon Jets, and Lyon Real Estate. A portion of the event’s proceeds also went to the Society for the Blind in Sacramento.
Project 3000, a nationwide effort based at the University of Iowa, is focused on finding the causes of and eventual cures for Leber congenital amaurosis, a rare blinding eye disease that affects individuals in childhood. To learn more about Project 3000, visit www.project3000.org