Inaugural Trucker Dukes Memorial Golf Tournament Registration Open

Trucker Dukes, Dec. 14, 2015. Photo by Wendy Osher.

Registration is now open for the inaugural Trucker Dukes Memorial Golf Tournament at the Kahili Golf Course in Waikapū on March 10, 2018.

The scramble format tournament is in honor of Honorary Fire Fighter Trucker Dukes who passed away from Neuroblastoma in March 2017.

Judy Stratford, the grandmother of Dukes, is an avid golf player and organizing this event to honor her grandson and raise money for the UVSC Foundation Hawaiʻi. UVSC’s mission is to provide hope by raising funds for individuals fighting cancer, as well as supporting cutting-edge research for a cure.

“I want to make this tournament to be a fun event,” said Stratford who traveled several times from Maui to New York City to bring one of the three siblings to visit and help her daughter Shauna Dukes care for her youngest son during his cancer treatments.

“One day in New York, I got to join Trucker at an all-day outing to a community center with other families staying at the Ronald McDonald House New York. At a driving range they had little clubs for Trucker and I showed him how to stand and how to aim at the ball,” Stratford said. “He did great and was hitting balls and laughing as they would trickle down the hill. Shauna asked me to hit a ball and and it went flying down the fairway. Trucker said, ‘My want to do that, too!’ I told him Gram’s would teach him as he got older. Guess it will have to be in heaven now.”

Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa will make a statement prior to the 1:30 p.m. shotgun start.

Early Bird registration is $99 (before Feb. 24, 2018) and Regular Registration is $125 for 18-hole green fees, power cart and light snacks.

A Golf Ball Drop, with numbered golf balls released from a fire truck, will allow for more participants to support the fundraiser without being present. Each numbered ball is a $20 donation.

Following the end of the tournament, participants can purchase food at the Kahili Restaurant including a special “Nacho Bar.” Prizes, including hotel stays, restaurant gift cards, helicopter rides, golf lessons and golf passes donated for the tournament and Golf Ball Drop will be handed out at the restaurant. Stratford is seeking sponsors and more prizes from individuals and companies.

Player registration, Golf Ball Drop, sponsorship, and donation forms are available online at www.TeamTrucker.org. Monetary donations are also accepted at any Bank of Hawaiʻi branch by depositing funds into the Trucker Dukes Memorial Fund. For more information please contact Judy Stratford at 808-359-1129 or via email at [email protected].