Save the Date! The 14th Annual Links Fore Leukemia Golf Tournament is returning to Glenneagle Country Club in 2010. The tournament is scheduled for May 10, 2010. We look forward to seeing you out there.
Thank you to our sponsors, players, and fundraisers who helped make the 2009 Links Fore Leukemia Golf Tournament a huge success! Because of your support, we raised over $171,000 for blood cancer research! THANK YOU!
Lisa Jane Adams, 2009 Honored Hero
Lisa Jane Adams was born July 19, 2005 and was an overall healthy normal little girl. In 2008, a persistent infection brought them into the doctor's office where she underwent blood work and several tests. She was beginning to look as pale as a ghost, had unexplained bruises all over her body, and she almost never walked on her own because of the constant pain in her knees. On May 16, 2008 Lisa and her family went for more blood work and the diagnosis was clear almost immediately, leukemia (ALL). She spent two days in the ICU receiving blood and platelet transfusions before being transferred to Children's Medical Center which has become the Adams family's home away from home.
Lisa began chemotherapy right away and was in remission after the first treatment but to make sure the cancer does not return, 
she is undergoing the full course of the grueling chemotherapy. Lisa continues to battle this disease and we are humbled to be able to honor such a heroic little girl.
"Without constant research and development Lisa might not have had the same outcome, we must continue to strive to eradicate pediatric cancer. Cancer should just not be an option, no child should ever know the vocabulary she knows, platelets, blood transfusion, chemo, bald, port, death." - Nikki Adams, Lisa's Mom
Lisa's Leukemia by the Numbers
87 Days Inpatient (Including her 3rd birthday and Christmas)
40 Port Accesses
22 Intramuscular Injections of Chemotherapy
21 Chemotherapy Treatments
10 Blood Transfusions
9 Spinal Taps
9 Platelet Transfusions
7 Surgeries
3 Bone Marrow Aspirates
2 EEG's
2 EKG's
1 Amazing Little Girl With the Relentless and Joyful Spirit of a True Hero
History
The Links Fore Leukemia Golf Tournament was created by Jim Willis and Bob Barker in 1997 to increase awareness of leukemia and to raise funds to support research and patient services programs for families affected by leukemia.
Several months after the inaugural tournament, Jim Willis lost his personal battle with leukemia at the age of 37. The Links Fore Leukemia Golf Tournament has been a forum to honor Jim and all who are touched by blood cancers in North Texas communities.
In the last thirteen years, the tournament has raised over $2.47 million in contributions toward the fight against leukemia, and has a strong corporate support and individual participation. Since inception, the tournament has experienced significant growth. Links Fore Leukemia is continuously ranked as one of the top charity golf tournaments in the Metroplex by the Dallas Business Journal.
Our Founders
Jim Willis was diagnosed with ALL in March of 1994. The news of his diagnoses came when his oldest child was two and the second was on the way. A 34 year old Jim and his wife Margaret had just moved into a new home two weeks earlier. Jim underwent a bone marrow transplant in May and leukocyte transfusion in November, his younger sister as the donor each time, but sadly, Jim lost his battle with leukemia in June of 1997.
Jim was born in Austin and grew up in Borger, Texas. He attended and graduated with highest honors from the University of Texas in Austin where he majored in business and earned both BBA and MBA degrees. Following his graduation in 1983, he was employed by Arthur Andersen where he worked throughout his professional career. Jim and Margaret dePingre married on November 3, 1990. Jim was actively involved with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Dallas Cystic Fibrosis Society and was also a member of the Texas Society of CPA's. He is remembered as a tender-hearted, loving, patient gentleman of highest Christian moral principles who loved his family dearly.
Bob Barker began his journey with AML in May of 1991. Bob and his wife Deborah met in 1984 and were married in July of 1985, looking forward to many wonderful years of martial bliss. No one could have imagined that just a few years later, when Bob was having trouble running the bases during a softball game and struggled to walk the course at the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament that a few days later he would be diagnosed with AML. Bob and Deborah had their world turned upside down. Bob had his first bone marrow transplant in September of 1991 which was successful; however, the leukemia returned and in April of 1992 Bob became a pioneer in the Dallas community, as he was the first to have a successful donor leukocyte infusion as an outpatient. Bob received the wonderful news that he was in remission in June of 1992; however, the battle was not done. Bob has been dealing with chronic Graft versus Host Disease since that time. Bob has continued to fight and win with the help of his faith in God, Deborah's unending support, incredible doctors, family and friends, and more prayers than they could ever count.
Bob's giving heart and unending perseverance was recognized in 2004 when he received the Byron Nelson Volunteer of the Year Award. He was also the recipient of the Heart of Gold Award from the Saint Valentine's Day Luncheon & Fashion Show and the Inspiration for Life Award from the Arizona Link's Fore Leukemia Golf Tournament in 2005. Bob's love for the game of golf and his heart's desire to find a cure has been a driving force behind the tournament.
Profile of a Hero
Matthew Willis, son of Jim Willis, was only two years old when his father lost the battle with leukemia in 1997. Matthew was too young to have any real memories of his father. All Matthew knows of his father is through photos and stories shared by family and friends.
Matthew saw the Links Fore Leukemia Golf Tournament as an opportunity to connect with his father in a way that has never been done before. At the age of nine, Matthew decided to fundraise and participate in the 2004 golf tournament in honor of his father. Matthew raised over $12,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society that year.
To date, Matthew has collected more than $65,000 in the fight against leukemia.
Now, Matthew is heading up the newest addition to the Links Fore Leukemia Tournament. He is now serving as the president of the junior golf committee, currently in its first year.
The "Why" of Links Fore Leukemia
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