Laura Laws Memorial Golf Tournament raises $74,000 for scholarships, local nonprofits (Photos)

**Dereck Whittenburg (left) and Eric “Sleepy” Floyd participated in the 2025 Laura Law Memorial Golf Tournament.**

Special to IFN

Fore more than two decades, the Laura Laws Memorial Golf Tournament has done more than give golf enthusiasts the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the biggest names in Atlantic Coast Conference sports history.

The tournament, which began after Laws, a champion golfer, died suddenly in 2003, was established to raise money for Laws’ greatest passion outside of golf — children.

It is put on each year by the Rotary Club of Statesville-Fourth Creek. Laws’ husband Edwin is a charter member of the club.

This year’s tournament was held in September at the Statesville Country Club. The event raised $74,000. That money will fund scholarships for students at thigh schools in Iredell County. In partnership with the Rotary Club in Taylorsville, funds are also allocated for a scholarship at Alexander Central High School, Laura Laws’ alma mater.

Laws was a collegiate golfer at Wake Forest University and later was a 15-time club champion at the Statesville Country Club, where the tournament is held each year. Before attending Wake Forest, she attended Alexander Central High, where she joined the boys golf team because there was no girls team at the time.

Ken Davis, Chris Bates and Ken Vance started the tournament shortly after Laws’ death. Davis used his connections to the ACC sporting community to recruit some well-known basketball players to play golf.

One of those who has been a part of the tournament since its inception is former UNC great Phil Ford. N.C. State’s Tommy Burleson has also been a regular at the tournament. Another Wolfpack legend, Dereck Whittenburg, and former Georgia Tech basketball coach Bobby Cremins have also teed off at the event in past years.

Davis said Burleson was not able to attend this year due to health reasons and Cremins had another commitment. However, Ford and Whittenburg were joined by Eric “Sleepy” Floyd, who played at Georgetown University and also in the NBA. Floyd, a native of Gastonia, joined the tournament roster for the first time in 2024.

One unique feature, in addition to the basketball stars, is the top three teams in the tournament and the last place team each donate their winnings to a charity of their choice.

Carolinas Refrigeration finished in first place and donated $750 to Fifth Street Ministries. G&B Energy won second place and designated the $500 prize to Hospice and Palliative Care of Iredell County. Third-place winners Wells Vance and Friends donated $250 to United Way of Iredell County. Edwin Laws and his team donated their $100 to Rainbow Kidz.

The charitable organizations that were the beneficiaries of the tournament were Power Cross Ministries, Iredell County Partnership for Young Children and Rainbow Kidz.

Davis said the goal of the tournament since its beginning was to raise enough funds to endow the scholarship.

“It will live on longer after we’re all gone,” he said.

And that goal has been accomplished, Davis said.

A total of 31 teams took part in this year’s tournament. Plans are underway for next year’s event, which will take place in September.