Celebrities teeing up for Gene Upshaw Golf Tournament

NFL Hall of Famers, former Major League Baseball players and other sports celebrities will gather July 17-18 to once again pay tribute to the former Oakland Raider at the 8th annual Gene Upshaw Memorial Golf Classic at the Schaffer’s Mill Golf & Lake Club in Truckee, Calif.

Upshaw, who often played in the Celebrity Golf Tournament in South Lake Tahoe, died of pancreatic cancer in 2008 at Tahoe Forest Hospital.

Upshaw’s wife, Terri, and sons Justin and Daniel established the Gene Upshaw Memorial Fund because of the exceptional care he received at the hospital. Terri wanted to continue her husband’s legacy and help the rural community and hospital that cared for Upshaw in his final days. Since its inception in 2009, the fund has raised more than $1 million for cancer research, patient care and mild traumatic brain injury research and innovation.

A National Football League Hall of Famer and executive director of the NFL Players Association, Upshaw’s fame spans beyond football and has touched the lives of many in the mountain town of Truckee, Calif., where the Upshaw family has a second home.

“I think Gene would be really happy about the work,” Terri said. “He would be proud of the research for both cancer and mTBI and the programs supporting families battling cancer.”

Since 2009, $463,544 has been directed specifically for traumatic brain injury research with the Tahoe Institute for Rural Health Research. Most of the money is raised through the Gene Upshaw Memorial Golf Classic conducted in July. Funds have also supported the Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center, pancreatic cancer research, Tahoe Forest Hospital Innovations Fund and Hospice programs.

The tournament invites corporate sponsors and individuals looking to be aligned with concussion and cancer research. A limited number of sponsorships are still available. Each provides celebrity accessibility, company exposure and client entertainment. For more information, please contact the Tahoe Forest Health System Foundation at 530-582-6329 or email Martha Simon at msimon@tfhd.com.

Led by founding director Thomas D. Hobday, the Tahoe Institute for Rural Health Research began work on developing a concussion-testing device four years ago. Hobday and his team of researchers are determined to replace the standard subjective computerized testing programs such as ImPACT with an objective mechanism for determining when a concussion has occurred and when it has healed. Research has determined that traumatic brain injuries typically occur when athletes come back to the field before the brain has healed and suffer subsequent brain trauma.

The researchers envision the instrument as a low cost, compact, portable unit that will be able to determine injury severity within 10 minutes. To further evaluate their testing device and gather more data, the institute has been testing student-athletes at Truckee High School and Feather River College, as well as Squaw Valley, Sugar Bowl and Northstar ski teams, during their sports seasons. The institute is now collecting post recovery data from patients injured during the 2015-16 winter and sports seasons.

The institute’s TBI research started five years ago following a conference of neurologists, doctors and scientists from Tahoe Forest Hospital and UC Davis. At the conference, Nolan Harrison, the NFLPA’s senior director of former players’ services, challenged the doctors and scientists to discover an objective way to determine when concussions occur and when the brain has healed afterward.

The tournament features one sports celebrity and four guests on each team playing a Shamble format. Social gatherings include receptions and a VIP pairings party with a decidedly Bay Area infused sports memorabilia auction at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe.

Celebrity commitments to-date include NFL Hall of Famers Marcus Allen, Tim Brown, Marshall Faulk, and Mike Haynes, Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, along with former Raiders head coach Tom Flores and former NFL players Herm Edwards, Sam McCullum, and Raymond Chester, plus Cy Young and American League MVP winner Vida Blue, Minnesota Twins World Series Champion pitcher and 20-game winner Scott Erickson, and former San Francisco Giants first baseman J.T. Snow, among the field of 25 to 30 celebrities. Joining the sports celebrities is defending tournament winner, actor Kevin Sorbo of Hercules: The Legendary Journals.

Practice rounds begin Sunday, July 17, followed by a private VIP pairings party at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe. Tournament play is Monday, July 18, with a 10 a.m. shotgun start followed by an afternoon awards reception.

Registration, sponsorship opportunities, volunteer inquiries and a full list of participating celebrities can be viewed at http://www.gu63.org/. Sponsors receive playing spots in the tournament and the opportunity to meet and spend time with players from the Oakland Raiders Super Bowl winning teams of the 1970s and 80s, five-star lodging, VIP tickets to the private pairings party, gift bags, and recognition on all program materials and releases.

Sponsors of this year’s event include presenting sponsor Schaffer’s Mill Golf & Lake Club; foundation sponsors, the National Football League Foundation, Professional Athletes Foundation, The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe; Tahoe sponsors, Aon Hewitt, Tahoe Forest Health System; legacy sponsors, NEPC, LLC, Cigna; shirt sponsor, Oakland Raiders; and hat sponsor Dorfman Pacific.
Upshaw was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. He played offensive guard for the Oakland Raiders for 15 years, becoming the first player in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl in three different decades. Upshaw played in six Pro Bowls and was ranked No. 62 on The Sporting News’ list of 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999.

In honor of Upshaw’s contributions to college and pro football, NCAA Division II established a lineman of the year award in Upshaw’s name in 2004. The award is annually presented during the weekend of the NCAA Division II Championship. After being an active member of the NFL Players’ Association bargaining committee as a player, Upshaw became executive director in 1983 and served in that role for 25 years until his death.

In addition to honoring Upshaw’s legacy through the fund, the family remains fervent about humanitarianism, providing quality medical treatment and care not only for patients but their families, sustainability, medical technology advancement as well as funding for medical research in critical areas such as traumatic brain injury.

For more information about the Tournament, visit www.GU63.org.