Golfers help tee off fund-raiser for men’s health program

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook Staff Writer

There wasn’t a male competitor in the Mission Golf Tournament who didn’t know about the cliché that says men don’t like to do doctor visits.

That, in part, seemingly was the reason that they showed up last Friday at Jake Gaither Golf Course to help plant the financial seed that could bring exclusive attention to men’s healthcare. The vision that Dr. Temple Robinson, CEO of Bond Community Health Center, has is to create a men’s health facility.

The focus will be on “all things men,” Robinson said.

“Sometimes men get overlooked and sometimes men and fathers overlook their own healthcare,” she said. “This world is really challenging and it’s especially challenging for men. We want to establish a program specifically for men’s health.

“We want to grow this program so that eventually men will have a place of their own, possibly a free-standing health center just for them so they could have those discussion with the healthcare providers that they feel comfortable talking to.”

Eleven foursome teams participated in the tournament. ESP Media took first place in the nine-hole competition with a score of 27, followed by Team Harris (28) and team Watts at 30. 

The day concluded with lunch and prize presentation. It was a get-together that Chuck Swearengin couldn’t miss. He played for the Clothesline team, an avid supporter of Bond.

Swearengin, a regular at Gaither Golf Course, said he understands the need for a men’s clinic. Regular doctor visits might have helped to save his father who died of a heart attack, said Swearengin, whose team scored a 32.

“As far as men’s health,” he said, “it needs to be out there because I’m the type that doesn’t like to go to doctors. Bond does a good service, bringing wellness to health in general.”

Former Bond board member Juan Vasquez commended Robinson for bringing attention to the need for men’s healthcare.

“We are reluctant to get our normal healthcare and also mental health services, wellness (and) fitness,” Vasquez said. “She wants to make sure that there is center that provides what men need. She wants to make sure this tournament is providing the seed money to build this vision that she has to provide healthcare for men.”

The field of players included Leroy Kilpatrick, a long time member of Gaither Golf Course that set a Guinness Book of World Record for playing 1,363 holes. He beat that mark in 1996 with 1,776 holes, although Guinness refused to acknowledge what was witnessed by many.

His team score of 39 was three over par, but Kilpatrick was jovial nonetheless to support the cause.

“They don’t close their door on anyone,” Kilpatrick said of Bond. “What they they are doing at Bond is bringing the light out on men because it’s all been about women and kids down through the years.

“Now they are looking at men and bringing them some relief. You pass 60 and you’re in trouble with your body; all parts of it. They are trying to give you another few years to live and do some of the things you want to do.”

Having a facility just for men could have far-reaching effects, Robinson said. So much so that it could help alleviate some of the crime-related issues in the community, she said.

“The poor decision making that young men are making; sometimes just because of anger they haven’t dealt with, stress they haven’t dealt with, trauma in their lives or trauma as a child that they haven’t dealt with,” she said. “Sometimes it’s expressed in making bad decisions and we end up with this kind of violence.”