A Hole-in-One Draws Attention to Diabetes: Their goal is to, “To improve the quality of life for people with or affected by diabetes, and to reduce complications and suffering related to the disease by providing high quality care and equipping the patient with the latest self-management tools through education.”

Who are they?

The Utah Diabetes Center (UDC).

How do they reach that goal?

Through golfing.

Well, not entirely, but a recent golf tournament does help them reach their goals by raising both support and awareness of the difficulties diabetics face.

In describing what they do the UDC states, “Our staff [provides] the best possible care, education, and resources for people with diabetes. These services are offered to caregivers of people with diabetes, and other healthcare professionals, to lessen the suffering that is caused by diabetes. Our expert researchers continue to work hard to find a cure for diabetes.”

One branch of the UDC is the “Treasure Chest Fund”. This was designed to provide, “Support for diabetes health care and education for those in need.”

This is where golf enters the picture. On September 15th at Red Ledges Golf Course in Heber City, Utah golfers gathered under the show of red cliffs to raise money for diabetes research and support through the UDC.

Among those stepping onto the greens that Tuesday morning was Jason Hargett, a local steakhouse manager. Like others he had been enjoying the morning and the beauty of the course. There had been talk about a hole-in-one prize of a million dollars, but Hargett had only hit a hole-in-one once in his life.

CBSNews.com indicated, “Six players who hit the ball closest to the hole on a par-3 were invited to participate in the hole-in-one contest. Hargett, who hit second, got a hole-in-one 150 yards away with a nine-iron.”

Hargett told CBSNews that he felt no pressure to make the shot, but having a crowd watch was difficult.

Hargett’s wife Amyee wasn’t sure what to believe when he called. “He told me that he had a chance, that he had a shot at winning a million dollars, so when he sent [at text message], I’m like, ‘He won.’ And I sent him a text message back to make sure it was true, and he didn’t respond, and I called him back and I heard all the people in the background screaming and yelling, and so then I knew that it was legitimate.”

Hargett isn’t sure that being a million dollars richer will change his life significantly. The payout is over 40 years so the $25,000 he received annually will be a nice bonus to his managerial paycheck.

Interestingly it has been reported that Hargett almost didn’t play. He use borrowed clubs and played with a sore wrist.

In the end this jackpot now serves and way to point people back to the original mission of the tournament – diabetes.

And the UDC is there to provide details individuals might need. Consider these facts…

• In 2007, the five countries with the largest numbers of people with diabetes are India (40.9 million), China (39.8 million), the United States (20.8 million), Russia (9.6 million) and Germany (7.4 million).
• By 2025, the largest increases in diabetes prevalence will take place in developing countries.
• Each year a further 7 million people develop diabetes.
• Every 10 seconds two people develop diabetes.
  (Source: www.healthcare.utah.edu)