Nashville cancer survivor has hole-in-one just 4 days after fifth surgery

Just four days after undergoing her final breast cancer surgery Cathey Helton's hope was simply to take baby steps as she eased back into playing golf.

After all, who even entertains the thought of picking up their clubs that soon after having their fifth surgery over 13 months?

Someone like Helton, that's who. Someone who was determined not to allow the disease to keep her off the links any longer than it already had.

"Golf is pretty much all that I do now — it's pretty much my life," Helton said. "And I had really been missing it."

So the petite Old Hickory resident, who had four rounds of chemotherapy and then 35 radiation treatments since November, signed up for the annual Tennessee Breast Cancer Coalition Celebration of Life Golf Classic at Hermitage Golf Course.

Even if she was still off her game, the cause alone for which she now had a connection was enough to motivate Helton to show up.

Helton took it easy at first, but finished her first tournament back with a bang.

She dunked a hole-in-one on the 17th hole on the General's Retreat Course.

"I started piddling and trying to start back playing several times, but before I could really get going I'd have to have another surgery and I'd have to lay off again," said Helton, who had a full mastectomy in July 2016 and then four follow-up surgeries. "After this last surgery (on Aug. 7) I told myself, 'I'm going to play in this breast cancer tournament no matter what, especially since I didn't get to play in it last year, and I did OK, obviously."

Any golfer would consider acing an 84-yard hole with the pin placed near the back of the green and difficult to see better than just OK.

"We were playing a scramble and I hit a five-iron off the tee," Helton said. "The other girls on my team said, 'I think the ball went in the hole,' and I said, 'No, it couldn't have gone in.' I couldn't see it because of the way the hole was. I could see that it went kind of toward the hole, but I felt like it was probably still rolling back there."

Helton and her friends usually play at Old Hickory Country Club. Another group from the country club was playing in front of Helton's group and saw the shot from the 18th tee. 

 "One of the girls in that group ran up on the hole, pointed and shouted, 'It went in the hole!"' Helton said. "Then, of course, we all started screaming and hollering."

The others in Helton's group — Cindy House, Elizabeth Lemons and Amanda Dillard, a breast cancer survivor of 13 years — witnessed the shot.

What made the shot even more special was that when Helton retrieved her ball from the cup she realized she had not used a Wilson Staff ball like she normally does. This was a different brand with the Breast Cancer Awareness pink ribbon logo stamped on it.

"I just grabbed a sleeve of balls when we were heading out and didn't pay any attention to what was on them," she said. "I couldn't believe it when I saw that pink ribbon on the ball."

Also, a huge pink ribbon had been painted on the grass next to the fairway on the 17th hole.

"That's when I knew it definitely was a God thing," Helton said. "It was like confirmation that it's OK now for me to go back to playing the game I love."

Titans preseason TV ratings lower than last year

Local television ratings for the Titans first preseason game lagged behind last season,

The Aug. 12 game against the host New York Jets earned an 11.9 rating, according to WTVF-5 programming & research director Mark Binda.

Last year's first preseason game against San Diego at Nissan Stadium earned a 14.7. And it was broadcast at the same time as the Summer Olympics.

The Titans lost to the Jets 7-3. 

Tony Romo will make debut in Nashville

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who retired after last season and joined the CBS broadcasting team, will make his regular season debut at Nissan Stadium for the Titans-Raiders game (Sept. 10, noon, WTVF-5).

Romo will be joined by play-by-play man Jim Nantz. Nantz and Romo are considered the network's No. 1 broadcast team.

Antioch's Jasmine Gunn elected to Tusculum Hall of Fame

Jasmine Gunn, who played basketball at Antioch, is part of the 2017 class that will be inducted into the Tusculum College Sports Hall of Fame.

The 4-foot-11 point guard led the Pioneers to one of their best four-year runs in history, which included four consecutive 20-win seasons.

Gunn earned WBCA Division II All-America honors in 2009, 2010 and 2011. She was a finalist for the 2010 Division II National Player of the Year Award. 

She scored 2,180 career points, which is second in school history.

Goodpasture coach gets 600th career volleyball victory

Goodpasture Christian volleyball coach Lynn Dearing won the 600th match of her career earlier this week when the Cougars defeated Davidson Academy 3-0.

Dearing, the 2016 Tennessean Coach of the Year who is in her 20th season as a head coach, has a record of 600-183.

She has led Goodpasture to five consecutive state championships.

Local college baseball stars earn summer awards

Former Battle Ground Academy standout Sam Folks, now a sophomore at UT-Martin, was named the Ohio Valley Summer Collegiate Baseball League pitcher of the year.

The lefthander posted a 1.91 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 62 innings for Muhlenberg County (Ky.).  

Former Mt. Juliet and Motlow State player Zach Earhart also played for Muhlenberg County and was the league's batting leader. He hit .374 with five home runs.

Chelsey Hall joins Cumberland basketball staff

Former Blackman basketball standout Chelsey Hall, who became an NAIA All-American at Cumberland, has joined the Bulldogs coaching staff.

Hall served as a graduate assistant on Cumberland coach Jeremy Lewis’ staff last season.

She began her playing career at UT-Martin. After transferring to Cumberland, Hall made the NAIA All-America third team in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Hall replaced Jessica Pace, who played at Hillsboro and Cumberland and left the staff at the end of last season after serving three years with the Bulldogs.

Local drag racer dies in crash

Longtime drag racer Windle Webster from Lebanon was killed in a crash at the Middle Tennessee Dragway in Putnam County on Aug. 11.

Webster, 45, was unable to stop his car after a race and it veered off the track and into a tree, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Webster was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Webster also served for many years as a race official at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.

A gofundme account has been set up to assist Windler’s family with his funeral expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/support-windle-websters-family.

Andrea Browning promoted to softball coach at TSU

Andrea Browning of Franklin was promoted from assistant to head coach of the Tennessee State softball team on Friday.

Browning played softball at Lambuth (1997-2000) and then began her coaching career as an assistant at Austin Peay.

Three years later she joined the staff at Belmont. Before her arrival at TSU last season, Browning was a volunteer assistant at North Florida.

Browning faces a big challenge. TSU's softball team has only had one winning season (2007) in its 24-year history. She is the program's sixth head coach.    

Camp offered for women who want to play football

There are lots of football camps offered every summer, but not many are like the one that will be offered by the Music City Mizfits later this month.

The Mizfits are a women’s semi-pro football team, and they will have a camp designed for women who would like to play football.

The Women’s Football: Fundamentals of Blocking and Tackling Camp is Aug. 26 (11 a.m-2 p.m.) at the Murrell School on 14th Ave. South.

You must be 18 and admission is free. For more information call Mizfits coach Donald Ragsdale 615-818-2839.

Ex-Mt. Juliet and Austin Peay standout joins Tech softball staff

Former Mt. Juliet and Austin Peay softball player Ashley Taylor has joined the staff at Tennessee Tech.

Taylor spent the last four seasons as the coach at Centre College. Before that she was an assistant at Belmont.

Taylor was a four-year starting infielder at Austin Peay (2007-10).

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
 

Sports on Nashville TV

The top five local ratings for sporting events from Aug. 7-13:
1. NFL preseason: Titans-Jets 11.9
2. PGA: PGA Championship (final round): 4.3
3. NASCAR: Michigan 400 4.1 
4. PGA: PGA Championship (third round) 3.0 
5. NFL preseason: Broncos-Bears 2.9 
Each rating point is equal to 10,116 Nashville homes.
Source: Mark Binda, WTVF-5 programming & research director