‘They took care of me’: Swing for the Cure girls’ golf tournament raises $16K for cancer survivors

You don’t see many golf events like the annual Swing for the Cure girls’ high school golf tournament.

The prestigious two-day outing invites the best golfers in the UIL’s Class 6A, 5A, and 4A to compete in a 54-hole tournament at Brackenridge Golf Course.

In addition to the opportunity to play amongst a highly talented field, each team brings an extra $250 or more that they raised to be donated directly to a coach or educator in Texas battling breast cancer or any type of cancer.

Kerry Gabel, the Marcus High School girls’ head golf coach, was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in 2016, and Alamo Heights girls head golf coach Brent McCuiston personally delivered Gabel a $2,500 check while he was in treatment.

“Coach McCuiston and another coach, Mike Martin, at that time surprised me — they brought me a check that came from this tournament,” said Gabel. “It showed how tight the golf community is and the coaching community… and from that point on, I’m going to come to this from now on because they took care of me, and I want to be here to help other people who are going through stuff.”

McCuiston hosts the event and makes sure the high school golfers have a great experience on the course while learning about the impact of cancer in the community.

“To give back and help people when they’re going through a tough time is awesome,” said Alamo Heights senior golfer Lindsey Lee. “This is probably my favorite high school tournament ever because great teams from all over the state get to come, and we get to play against them. It not only makes this tournament so good, but it makes our team so much better.”

The Canyon Cougars shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) stating that the tournament raised $16,000 when it was all said and done.

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