The Regional Medical Center Foundation will hold its annual charitable golf tournament on Monday, May 4.

The tournament, which is among the largest hospital fund-raisers, will be held at the Country Club of Orangeburg to benefit diabetes patients and those at risk for the disease.

Registration for the tournament begins at 11 a.m., lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. and tee off begins at 1 p.m.

RMC Foundation Executive Director Mac Burton said the foundation is hoping for an event sellout in 2009 with a targeted goal of $15,000.

The event chairman is Francis Faulling, and vice chairman is Rusty Matthews.

"There are so many incidents in the five-county region where we serve," Burton said, adding that some of the funds raised will go toward helping diabetes patients pay for their medications.

Burton said last year, the event netted $7,627 with about 92 attendees. This is below the average net of between $10,000 to $12,000 for the past several years.

The tournament raised a record of nearly $18,000 in 2003.

Proceeds from the tournament will be used to fight against diabetes, which affects approximately 10,000 people in Orangeburg County alone, according to a recent Duke Endowment-funded study conducted by the hospital and several state universities including the Medical University of South Carolina.

Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the county, according to 2006 Department of Health and Environmental Control statistics. Some 44 individuals per 100,000 in the county died from the disease in 2006.

About 11.4 percent of the Orangeburg population is estimated to suffer from the disease, compared to about 9.6 percent of the state.

Calhoun County has an estimated 8.6 percent diabetes prevalence rate among the approximately 15,000 people in the county.

South Carolina is second in the nation in identified cases of diabetes.

Registration for the golf tournament is $125 per player and $500 per team. The tournament is captain's choice.

Sponsorships are available, including a Tent Sponsorship for $200; Hole, Tee or Green Sponsorship for $150; and Major Sponsorship from $1,500 to $5,000.

For more information, call the foundation at 803-395-2321.

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