Sun SafeTee at Western Intercollegiate
GCAA partner, the Sun SafeTee Program hosted a skin cancer screening and sun protection education program as part of the 67th Western Intercollegiate Golf Tournament at Pasatiempo Golf Course in Santa Cruz, CA. For the third consecutive year, Sun SafeTee arranged for the players, coaches and members of the gallery to have a skin cancer screening by a board certified dermatologist.
More than 60 people were screened at the event and 8 were referred back to their local dermatologist for follow up. All players were provided with samples of sunscreen, information cards on sun protection and the opportunity to speak with a dermatologist and representatives of Sun SafeTee on how to protect themselves in the sun.
This year moer than two million Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer. One person will die every hour from melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer. Given the extended amount of time that golfers spend in the sun, Sun SafeTee stresses the importance of regular skin checks to help with the early detection of the disease along with using good sun protection techniques.
Mark Wishner, the founder of Sun SafeTee said, “Being back at the Western Intercollegiate is a great opportunity for us to interact with college golfers and give them the opportunity to get checked out and learn about sun protection on the golf course”. Wishner added, “Many golfers think they know what good sun protection is, but when they talk with us, they realize they have a lot of misconceptions. So doing a program like this is crucial”.
To learn more about sun protection for golfers including videos on how to apply sunscreen in a golf friendly way so that it does not get on your hands and affect your grip, go to www.sunsafetee.org.