The Mahatma Story

The team was sponsored by Walter Rice Construction Company which is where everyone thinks Mahatma came from. The real story behind the team's rallying cry, "THIS MA-HATMA!" is best told by one of the players.

At the 1997 reunion two of our Mahatma teammates, Debbie Stokes and Vivian Langley, were battling breast cancer. Unfortunately, Debbie lost her battle about two months after the reunion and Vivian needed a risky stem cell replacement in order to have a chance at recovery. The team decided to hold a golf tournament to honor and remember Debbie and to raise funds to help Vivian pay for treatment.

The first annual Mahatma Shuffle tournament was played Thanksgiving weekend in Auburn, Alabama, and raised about $4000. After a successful and incredibly uplifting experience, the group decided to make the tournament an annual event. Our mission became to donate the proceeds to a woman in need of additional funds for cancer treatment. While an important aspect of the tournament is to raise money to help in the fight against this horrible disease, the greatest thing to come out of this is the emotional support and caring that we have all shared.