(Left to right) Jean Chua, Paula Creamer, Jennifer Song, Cristie Kerr and Natalie Gulbis showing their support for the fight against breast cancer.FOUR lady golfers have secured a string of birdies even before the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia tees off at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC) on Thursday, when they pledged a portion of their tournament winning towards research on breast cancer.
And yesterday the LPGA stars Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis and Jennifer Song (all from the United States), visited the Sime Darby Medical Centre in Subang Jaya to officially launch the new Breast Care Centre.
The generous contribution from the Tour players, will be a warm welcome to the tournament charity, which will be running a study called More than A Mammo Programme together with Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya’s Breast Care Centre.
Last year’s inaugural Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia raised a total of around RM500,000 via the tournament’s ticket sales and the annual prestigious Gala Dinner.
The 2010 tournament donations were used to develop the Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation (CARIF) Patient Nav igation Program, a decision aid to be an educational tool to essentially support patients.
On her thoughts about the visit, World No 8 on the Rolex Rankings, Creamer said: ““It has truly been wonderful visiting the Sime Darby Medical Centre, learning more about CARIF and what it does to contribute to breast cancer research and to improve survival for breast cancer patients in Malaysia.
“We have started the sponsorship process here via the ‘Pink Swing’ and I pledge to continue to do my part to spread the message, especially this week during the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia.”
Kerr, who currently stands at World No 3, led the ribbon- cutting ceremony at the Centre.
Kerr, who turns 34 years old on Wednesday, founded “Birdies for Breast Cancer” in the US in 2003, a foundation which raises money through donations and an annual charity event. Kerr and Gulbis joined Michelle Wie in last year’s inaugural visit to the tournament charity’s main site.
Fellow American, Gulbis said: “Last year’s visit was a real eye-opener for me and I would like to thank everyone involved in allowing me to be part of this year’s opening of the new Breast Care Centre by the hospital. “
For more information on the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia 2011, please visit the event website - http://simedarbylpga malaysia.com/
