The fourth annual Vaughan Regional Medical Center’s Relay For Life Golf Tournament brought out a record number of golfers Wednesday, who together raised $5,000 for the annual event.

The tournament was held at Valley Grande Golf Course and had 18 two-person teams participate.

“It’s a great time to get together and raise money for a good cause and get out of the office for the day,” said Meagan Austin, a Vaughan Relay captain. “It brings a lot of different people together and it’s definitely a fun day. A lot of these guys look forward to it every year. We just want to thank all of our sponsors [for making this possible].”

With Relay for Life quickly approaching, the Vaughan Relay team was hard at work raising money to fight the battle of cancer.

“The money that we raise today will directly help the people in Selma and Dallas County,” Austin said.

Knowing that the money stays in Selma and helps the people in the community is an incentive for some people to give back.

“Our goal today is to raise money for those who have been diagnosed with the deadly disease of cancer. The money that we raise will not go only to research, but the money raised will help individuals with their medicine, it pays for rides to and from treatments as well as pay for lodging at various hotels at no cost to the patient,” said Alvin Craig, a Vaughan Relay captain.

“Our goal today is to help each and every individual make it to their next birthday.”

Last year, the tournament had 12 teams to compete, but Austin and Craig said they were happy to see that number go up and more teams participate.

“The turnout was a tremendous turnout today. The weather turned out beautiful. We had over 18 teams that participated,” Craig said.

Coming in first place in the tournament was Ray Hollingshead and Moses Ngirailab; second place was Andy Stewart and Paul Garner; and third place was William Pearce and William Free.

Craig said the annual event is all about helping those in the community battle the disease, and helping to find a cure so future generations won’t battle the disease.

“Just to note, our future kinds and grandkids will be asking ‘What is cancer,’” Craig said. “We’re asking everyone … to donate to this worthy cause.”