Luke's own selected for Heroes Cup

  • Published
  • By Jayson Burns
  • Thunderbolt Staff Writer
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Scheduled to be broadcasted on The Golf Channel later this year, the Heroes Cup Foundation will hold its aptly named Heroes Cup, a golfing tournament consisting of 12 sports legends and 12 U.S. military servicemembers. One selected is Luke Air Force Base's very own Senior Airman Ronald Gore, 56th Communications Squadron Airfield Systems journeyman.

After playing in the 2012 Air Force Golf Championship at Maxwell AFB, Ala., Gore was among the three of the top four finishers to be selected. He is also the youngest to be invited and most junior ranked by three grades.

"My initial thought on being selected for The Heroes Cup was 'I'm going to meet Greg Maddux,'" Gore said. "After looking through the details of the event, I realized that being selected for such a high profile event is a huge honor and will definitely cause a bit of nervousness and loss of sleep."

The "Legends Team" of the Cup consists of former Olympians and athletes of various sports organizations, such as major league baseball's Reggie Jackson and National Hockey League's Brett Hull to name just a few of the 12 selected. The opposing "Heroes Team" consists of decorated servicemen from the Army, Navy and Air Force.

"I met a few of the players from the Heroes team at the 2012 Armed Forces Championship so it's going to be fun meeting up with them and rehashing old stories and telling new ones," Gore said.

As he goes for the Heroes Cup, Gore has the full backing of his fellow Airmen.

"Senior Airman Gore is a hard worker and outstanding Airman who has a gift to play golf, and hopefully we'll see him on TV sometime soon doing it for a living," said Master Sgt. Craig Gustin, 56th CS Airfield Systems section chief. "The airfield systems shop is very supportive and excited for Gore to be part of a wonderful event supporting the military."

While Gore will be preparing for the tournament, he won't be doing anything out of his normal routine of spending four or five hours a week playing.

"I'll meet with my swing guru at Valley Golf, Paul Smith, once or twice to get my swing on plane," Gore said. "And to get out of some bad habits I've developed recently. But other than that, it's business as usual."

It has been 13 years since Gore first started playing with his father on the weekends. To him, golf is a sport that does not limit the performance of a player as he or she gets older and provides opportunities that are inaccessible elsewhere.

"There has been many times where I played in groups that consisted of me in my 20s, and three other guys whose ages range from 30s to late 80s," Gore said. "Spending time with a diverse range of older men who have a wide range of experience in both successes and failures has proved invaluable to me as I grow older."

The Heroes Cup has been postponed due to sponsorship issues, but is expected to occur during the month of October.