When McConnell Golf and Raleigh Country Club pastry chef Lynn Hart was diagnosed with breast cancer last December, she turned to her club family for support. They rallied to the cause by joining her Cardinal Solutions Group Team in the 20th annual Komen Triangle Race for the Cure in June. Altogether, members donated $2,500 to Hart’s team, and much of the Raleigh Country Club staff participated in the race. McConnell Golf matched the member donations to raise a total of $5,000 on Hart’s behalf for breast cancer research. 

A Note From Lynn...

Going in for a routine appointment and learning that you have a very aggressive form of breast cancer was one of the worst moments of my life. I would have five months of chemo, surgery and then six weeks of radiation. Dennis Freeland was the first person I told at work; we would see how things went and take it one day at a time.

My first chemo was once a week for twelve weeks. I woke up every morning with a splitting headache but found that if I ate a light breakfast and had some coffee that it would go away in about twenty minutes. Though it did not change the recommended treatment plan, the chemo drugs worked and the tumor was gone.

My second chemo would last for eight weeks and my nausea was as wicked as they said it would be. For two and a half months, I would become deathly ill for three hours each morning before the pills would kick in. I pressed on believing that God would give me the strength to get through it and he did. This eight and a half weeks was my hardest stretch in which Dennis took an active role.

When my blood sugar dropped, I would get very light headed and experience chest pains. Even if we were quite busy, if Dennis noticed that I was looking puny, he would park a salad or sandwich in front of me. He is not only a good boss but also a good friend. Without his support, I would not have been able to make it through.

A week after I completed chemo, I did a 5k walk/run to benefit the Komen Foundation. My husband’s company, Cardinal Solutions, custom designed a shirt logo with my name on it for the race. JP, the executive chef from Greensboro drove all the way to Raleigh with his daughter Harriet to support me and John McConnell generously matched funds contributed from our company. Between our employers, friends and family $5,000 was raised in my name.

The moral support I received from McConnell Golf does not end there. A talented pastry chef named Jennifer from Country Club of Asheville was brought in to help me during the Wyndham Championship so my shifts would be shorter than last year. I was able to keep my recommended radiation schedule and still have a quality event for the VIP guests. I was very touched to receive the special Wyndham chef coat and be photographed with all the McConnell Golf chefs overlooking the 18^th green.

To everyone reading this who knows me personally, thanks for your prayers. I had a great outcome for the most difficult season of my life and I am grateful to work for such a caring company.

Lynn Hart

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On a beautiful November morning leading into the Veterans Day holiday, McConnell Golf honored all branches of the military and helped bring awareness to our veterans with the first annual Army vs. Navy Golf Challenge at Raleigh Country Club.

Under the leadership of General Tony Tata — a Raleigh CC member currently serving as Secretary of the NC Department of Transportation — the Army Black Knights managed to squeeze out an exciting 486-497 win over the Navy Midshipmen, who were led by Admiral Donald Gintzig, CEO of WakeMed and also a Raleigh CC member. The format was a four-person, Texas scramble using two best ball nets of a foursome.

The benefiting charity for the event was the US Military Veterans Foundation® (USMV), which ensures connections and growth through fundraising, supporting, educating, and connecting veterans with communities and nonprofits. Both captains, along with Mc- Connell Golf CEO John McConnell and Wounded Warriors and veterans, delivered special words about their service and commitment to giving back and importance of helping those who served.

The Wake & District Public Safety Pipe and Drums provided the event’s ceremonial opening music, while Beverly Marler, Club Manager at Sedgefield Country Club, sang the national anthem. The event’s master of ceremony was Connie Inggs, USMV Foundation President. USMC SFC Stanley Roberts, a Wounded Warrior & Purple Heart recipient, struck the ceremonial opening putt. In addition, nearly every foursome included an active military member, a wounded warrior or a veteran.

The USMV’s mission is to bring restoration to the lives of this country’s veterans and their families through engaging and educating communities on how to give back to those that have sacrificed for the United States.

The foundation financially supports vetted nonprofits that are providing programs and services needed for these families’ lives to be restored. These include Operation Coming Home, which builds homes for wounded veterans; Military Missions in Action, which provides home modifications for disabled veterans, as well as disabled children of military families. Vets to Vets provides service dogs and training to disabled veterans, and Chambers for Hope, which provides medical treatment for military veterans suffering from TBI and PTSD.

“We believe the nonprofits that are out there making a difference need support from a passionate team that understands the needs of our military veterans and their families,” said Inggs. “ We look at ourselves as a relationship builder, which takes hard work and time, but is essential in establishing needs, motivating individuals and companies through educating them of the needs, including time, treasure and talent.”

McConnell Golf left no stone unturned during the Veterans Day event including personalized McConnell Golf challenge coins and a small, silent auction. Another beneficiary of the event was the Wounded Warrior Project.

The Army vs. Navy Golf Challenge also benefited McConnell Golf ’s “Footprints on the Green” program, through which members and staff give back by volunteering time, effort or resources to enrich the lives and environment around them. The Footprints on the Green program was established to engage all of the McConnell Golf properties around the Carolinas to support broader-based charitable causes.

McConnell Golf announced that the Army vs. Navy Golf Challenge was able to raise several thousand dollars for the US Military Veterans Foundation, and it also honored one specific veteran military family, for whom McConnell Golf was able to raise and donate $5,730 specifically to that local family in need.

With an older brother, Bob, who played football for the United States Naval Academy, Gen. Tata is no stranger to Army-Navy duels. As a young West Point cadet Gen. Tata said he would never forget how proud he was of his brother’s heralded Navy team, which captured the 1979 Holiday Bowl.

 “That pride in no way overshadows my annual desire for Army to beat Navy on the gridiron or any field of competition,” said Gen. Tata. “As a West Point wrestler and baseball player, I did my best to support the Army cause. And while Army has been unsuccessful of late in beating Navy in football, John McConnell has given us a proxy, a different battlefield, upon which to cross sabres and determine bragging rights. More importantly, John’s support of veterans and Veterans Day is noble and much appreciated.”

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