STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Cori Mooney came out swinging for her daughter this past week. And her friends joined her, taking part in the second annual Higher Ground Invitational Golf Tournament.

The team, made up of Sherry Rundell, Lodgie Turck, Davina Walker and Cori Mooney, comprised the first all-women’s team in the golf tourney. The tourney helps make possible the therapeutic skiing, fly fishing, golfing and other recreational opportunities Higher Ground provides for veterans, local adults and children with disabilities and first responders.

“My daughter Maci is18 and a senior at Wood River High School. It’s been hard for her growing up because she didn’t have a lot of friends to do things with. But then she found Higher Ground, and she participates in everything they offer including skiing, summer camps, hiking,” said Cori Mooney. “They’ve given her a family to do things with.”

Diesel Ward, a longtime participant with Higher Ground, added golfing to his resume last year when Higher Ground expanded the golfing program it had started during COVID for veterans.

This year’s tournament, with its primary sponsor Lunceford Excavation, added 20 additional golfers to the fold for a total of 108 golfers on 27 teams.

“Sun Valley Resort, of course, is a key partner,” said Kate Dobbie, director of development for Higher Ground.

Among those taking part was Diesel Ward, a 19-year-old Wood River High School graduate who has been a participant with Higher Ground since he began skiing with its adaptive ski instructors at 3.

“He wanted to play nine more holes said Greg Erst, as they filed into the clubhouse.

Higher Ground’s new director Cole Petrie welcomes golfers to a round of drinks and sliders following play. He told golfers that transitioning to civilian life was one of the hardest things he'd ever done.

“It’s a perfect game for Diesel. It’s a calculated game and he’s a rule follower,” said his mother.

Ward sang the National Anthem as firefighters hung a 30-foot American flag from the crane on their fire truck. And, after an honor guard from Mountain Home Air Force Base performed, Maci Mooney and Higher Ground staff cheered on 54 golf carts as they left the clubhouse one by one.

“It was an honor to sing the national anthem,” said Ward. “And I putted good.”

Back at the clubhouse, golfers had the opportunity to bid on an array of items, including a stay in a private luxury farmhouse in Italy and a Bourbon and Cigar Affair at Steve Miller’s estate--both of which were donated by the current Ambassador to Finland Douglas T. Hickey and Dawn Ross.

Davina Walker putts near the Sun Valley Clubhouse as her teammates Cori Mooney, Lodgie Turck and Sherry Rundell watch.

Sun Valley Company donated a chair from its Christmas lift that was refurbished by Higher Ground volunteer Barry Sweeney using teak wood. And Higher Ground participant Paul Robinson, who gave up ski racing after being burned in a gas explosion, donated a Higher Ground wakeboard that he built at his shop in Hailey.

Team winners received Higher Ground Invitational belt buckles.

Jason Fincher described how he grew up in Sandpoint and served in Iraq and the evacuation of Yemen. After moving to Ketchum where he works in real estate, he got involved with Higher Ground’s veteran’s group, which offered him the sense of camaraderie and teamwork he missed after returning to the States.

“The veteran’s community here brings that same feeling back,” said Fincher who now volunteers with Higher Ground. “As a veteran suffering with mental health issues, you might not know you have a problem. But go flyfishing with a brother…”

Doyle Rundell, who co-founded the tournament, auctions off a Higher Ground wakeboard created by a Higher Ground participant.

Joe Smith, a Navy veteran who now lives in Hailey with his wife and two daughters, echoed how important it is for veterans to be involved in such groups.

“We saw things that aren’t necessarily part of people’s normal lives, and recreational opportunities provide community building and mental health benefits,” he said. “You’re active, working with a team. It’s amazing for people’s mental health.”

FIRST PLACE MIXED TEAM

Jeff Rust, Garret Beal, Cam Gonzales, Alexandra Quihuis with a score of 51

FIRST PLACE NET

Jim Laski, Carson Mooney, Heather O’Leary, Dillon Witmer with a score of 53

FIRST GROSS

Doyle Rundell, Zach Jonas, Jason Lynch and Michael Horwitz with a score of 53

FIRST LADIES

Sherry Rundell, Lodgie Turck, Davina Walker and Cori Mooney with a score of 71

LONGEST DRIVE MEN on HOLE No. 1

Casey Lynch

Peter Atkinson

LONGEST DRIVE WOMEN on HOLE No. 9

Christy Johnsen

Alexandra Quihuis

CLOSET TO THE PIN MEN on HOLE No. 6

Mike Abaid

Brett Camtuck

Eric Kiel

CLOSEST TO THE PIN WOMEN on HOLE No. 4

Heather O’Leary