TELLURIDE, July 13 - This Tuesday, players will be seeing pink at the Telluride Golf Club.

They will be playing for PINK as well, as part of the Club’s newest fundraiser. Telluride’s Play for PINK (Prevention, Immediate diagnosis, New technology, Knowledge) tournament will benefit the Play for PINK Foundation, a grassroots organization dedicated to raising funds to fight breast cancer, as well as promoting awareness of breast cancer through sporting and lifestyle events including golf, tennis, swimming, equestrian events, and more.

Telluride Golf Club Pro Shop Manager and Play for PINK tournament chairwoman Carly Jepson says the upcoming event is slated to be a fun-filled tournament for men and women, open to both club members and non-members. “It’s a beautiful thing to be able to play a sport – it represents health and well-being – while also raising money and awareness for a disease that touches so many people,” she says.

The Play for PINK Foundation was chosen as the tournament beneficiary thanks to its exalted track record in breast cancer fundraising. Play for PINK was organized by a group of women in 1996 at Alpine Country Club in northern New Jersey, when one woman was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her illness prompted the creation of a golf tournament in her honor so that the proceeds could go to breast cancer research. The tournament was so successful that it became an annual event at Alpine, and soon friends at neighboring country clubs began hosting Play for PINK tournaments.

The following year, six clubs held Play for PINK fundraising tournaments, raising a total of $77,000. In the ensuing ten years, the organization has grown into one of the country’s greatest sources of breast cancer research funding: Since 1996, Play for PINK events have raised a cumulative total of $10 million for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the sole beneficiary of 100 percent of PINK proceeds. Currently, Play For PINK fully funds nine of the top researchers supported by BCRF. Money magazine named BCRF one of America’s top eight charities, in part because BCRF awarded close to $25 million to 115 researchers across the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and Israel in 2006.

So far, Jepson has accumulated a total of 18 sponsors for the Telluride tournament; sponsorship opportunities are still available, she says. “We’ve received tremendous support so far,” she reports of the first-ever Telluride Play for PINK tournament, which she hopes will become an annual event at the Telluride Golf Club.

The tournament will be played in a men’s and women’s four-person scramble format, beginning at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, June 17. The $150 per person fee includes the tournament as well as a luncheon (greens fees to play at the Telluride Golf Club during that time are $205.)

Prizes will be awarded to the team with the lowest net score, and individual prizes awarded for long drive, closest to the pin, and longest putt.  There will also be a prize for the team who sports the best pink attire.

“I want this to be an event for the entire community,” says Jepson, “and just a fun day to raise money for a great cause.”

To reserve a team or individual spot for this tournament, contact the Pro Shop at 728-2606. For tournament-related questions or to become a tournament sponsor, ask to speak with Jepson.