The Mountain View Golf Club was coloured pink for the fourth annual Pretty in Pink ladies golf tournament to benefit Karen’s Fund.

Members of the MVGC Ladies Night decided to pilot a fundraising tournament and asked the members what charities were near and dear to them. The charity chosen was the Karen J. Weiderkher Memorial Fund.

Weiderkher was a local woman who lost her fight with cancer before the age of 40. After her passing, her husband established Karen’s Room at the Whitehorse General Hospital, where cancer patients can receive their chemotherapy treatments in a warm, comfortable environment.

He also established a legacy fund to benefit women living with breast cancer.

Before the golf began all the athletes were mingling outside. Most of the participants donned pink somewhere on their outfits. Even the golf carts were decorated.

Shauna Tompkins and Beth Henderson were on the team “All Hail the Female” and wore shirts with the slogan.

The teammates said it is one of the best tournaments around Whitehorse.

They both said it was nice to help support the charity but they were both iffy on their golf game.

“It’s the first game in two years,” said Henderson.

“I was out once last summer,” said Tompkins.

Loretta Devries has been a regular at the MVGC Ladies Night on Tuesdays.

“This is just a good fundraiser and it’s a lot of fun,” said Devries.

Devries said it is very important to her to support the Pretty in Pink tournament.

“We have some relatives and friends that have had it and gone through it,” said Devries. “It’s very good to support it to help people travel and go out and get treatment.”

Gail, who did not wish to give her last name, was dressed as Rosie the Riveter. She said everyone knows somebody who has been affected by cancer.

“We have all known somebody or experienced it ourselves and it’s just really important to support,” said Gail.

In the tournament’s first year it was just open to MVGC Ladies League but it has expanded to invite women from town.

“We had a really great turnout,” said organizer Sheila Vanderbyl. “We drew some women from around the community which is lovely.”

The tournament this year featured 28 and continues to grow. Vanderbyl has big hopes for the future.

“We have the capacity for 144 (participants),” said Vanderbyl. “But the other thing we would like to do eventually is make it on a weekend and have men and women participate. Right now it’s women for women but we actually have a lot of men who would like to come out and support as well. So we are trying to figure out a way to get everyone incorporated.

“We had a dinner for the men last week and we brought in about $500 from that and it all goes into the donation bucket.”

Since the inauguration of the tournament, the Mountain View Golf Club Ladies League has been able to donate about $11,000 to Karen’s Fund, not including this year’s total.