Her Mother's Memory Becomes One Pro Golfer's Tour-Wide Cause

Just when you think you’ve reached your cynical zenith in the sports world, when you’ve been T.O. and Manny and A-Rod-ded to death in the headlines, along comes Cindy Lee-Pridgen to restore your faith in sports. 

Never heard of her? You will, if not for her good golf, then for her good works.

Cindy Lee-Pridgen is a professional golfer on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, the official developmental tour of the LPGA. She’s a native of Malaysia, a proud graduate of Arizona State University, and one of the millions of us who, directly or indirectly, have been touched by cancer.

June 19 of this year is the second anniversary of her mother’s death from cancer. It's also the first day that the Duramed FUTURES Tour is playing at the Golf Center at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, for the Duramed Championship. So in honor of her mother, Cindy has been growing her hair, so it can be cut this week to provide wigs for the thousands of women who lose their hair during chemotherapy.

That’s a great cause in and of itself. But why just stop there? Cindy now is getting the entire tour involved, asking all 144 players to help in some way. There’s a mass "hair cutting party" the Tuesday afternoon of tournament week in Mason, where players will pause in their preparation for the tournament, to give back to their mothers, their sisters, their friends who are in the fight of their lives against cancer. “I'm really excited about this cause,” said Cindy, “and I hope I'll be able to convince a few girls on tour to support it as well!”

But it’s not only the Duramed FUTURES Tour that is taking up Cindy’s passion. The word is going through the ranks of the LPGA, and dozens of players are being encouraged to let their hair grow for charity. Volunteers at the Duramed Championship also are joining the cause, passing up hair trims the last few months so they can donate. A local hair salon is providing hair stylists for the Duramed Championship at no cost to cut the hair, then style the new lengths. Residents of Mason, Ohio, where the tournament is being held, are even volunteering to grow their hair.

As tour communications chief Lisa Mickey reminds us, “It is a compelling and heart-warming story about professional athletes giving back and leaving something behind in the communities where they play."

Just as the PGA Tour and its fans are rallying around Amy Mickelson after her diagnosis, the Duramed FUTURES Tour and its fans are supporting Cindy as well. Cindy just wanted to do something to honor her mother’s memory. In the process, she’s creating a bond that brings together these athletes, and a cause, with a community in a singular effort to fight cancer.

That’s a headline we’d love to see more in sports.