PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) – The Holiday Golf Club in Panama City Beach has officially changed its name to honor someone significant to their community.
It was first known as the Colony Golf Club and then the Holiday Golf Club. However, the new name is now, Legacy Golf Club.
The new name honors the late Chip Hilton, and the wishes of his parents Lela and Charlie Hilton.
“He was an avid golfer,” said Vice President of Marketing Elise Whitman. “He started at age nine, found out that he loved and played for the Bay High School golf team, and then decided that he wanted to be involved professionally.”
The Legacy Golf Club will be adding the ‘Chip Hilton Golf Academy’ and ‘Wellness Center’ to honor his dedication to the sport. Local kids from the community will be able to learn the game of golf.
“Want to take children from all socioeconomic backgrounds, teach them a game that they can play for their whole entire life and that they can pass on to their child,” said Whitman.
Chip Hilton died in 2011 from gastric cancer. During Thursday’s event, the Hilton Foundation and Legacy Golf Club donated another 75 thousand dollars to the University of Florida College of Medicine Health Foundation.
The money will help research the relationship between bacteria, your gut, and your immune system, pilot projects, and help inflammatory bowel disease patients navigate based on their needs.
“These are not glamour diseases,” said Associate Dean and Professor Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the University of Florida, Ellen Zimmerman. “These are diseases that cause very difficult symptoms, like patients that have diarrhea and weight loss and difficulty eating and things like that.”
For five years, the ‘Chip Hilton Celebration of Life Charity Golf Classic’ has donated money to digestive disease research. The next ‘Chip Hilton Celebration of Life Charity Golf Classic will take place in April.
