Wednesday, March 26, 2025
A golf tournament in Wake Forest this week raised about $6,000 for scholarships in memory of the late Damon Johncour.
Area golfers competed in the 5th Annual Damon Johncour Memorial Golf Tournament Monday at the Hasentree Club. Organized by the Damon Johncour Foundation, the tournament celebrates the life of Damon Johncour and raises scholarship funds for prosthetics, orthotics and pedorthics students.
Johncour, who died in 2018, founded North Carolina Orthotics & Prosthetics Inc. in 2003. He helped thousands of local individuals regain their mobility and function throughout his 25-year career as a certified orthotist.
March is POP Month, a nationwide celebration of the 15,000 prosthetics, orthotics and pedorthics professionals across the country. The Damon Johncour Foundation raises scholarship funds for POP students.
“From family and friends to patients or strangers he’d just met, Damon always cared for others,” said Cindy Johncour, Damon’s wife, a foundation and tournament organizer and current president of NCOPI. “The tournament celebrates Damon’s amazing love for life, golf and most importantly, his generous heart. He always looked for ways to increase access to care and support the next generation of POP professionals.”
Recent tournament scholarship recipients include Taylor Ferris, certified orthotic fitter, certified mastectomy fitter and 2023 graduate of Northwestern University’s Masters of Prosthetics & Orthotics program; and Sarah Blue, who is enrolled in the University of Pittsburgh’s Master of Prosthetics and Orthotics program.
This year’s tournament coincides with POP Month, a nationwide celebration of the 15,000 POP professionals who custom design and fit devices that help people move better. More than 30 organizations nationwide are official partners, recognizing the achievements of POP champions, students, educators and practitioners through events, online discussions, social media, clinic open houses and more.
Johncour began his POP career as a technician and fitter before pursuing a master’s degree and opening his own clinic.
Cindy Johncour said her husband loved playing golf, and one reason they moved here was because of the opportunity for year-round golf. He took a lot of golf trips with friends and played regularly at Hasentree.
Some of the friends he played with regularly suggested a memorial golf tournament would be a great way to keep his memory alive and encourage surviving members of the group to continue playing together, she said.
“Damon will always be remembered for his larger-than-life personality,” said Duke Johncour, his brother and a tournament organizer. “As a founding member of Hasentree, he spent many fun-filled hours on the course with friends and family. I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate his life and honor his two passions: golfing and improving lives through POP.”
This year’s tournament included 18 foursomes and raised an estimated $6,000.
Scholarships are awarded based on recommendations from the school. Damon was from Pittsburgh and attended Northwestern, so the University of Pittsburgh and Northwestern University are the schools the master’s degree scholarships are awarded for.
This is the third year the foundation has awarded scholarships.
In addition to the master’s level scholarships of $5,000 each, the foundation this year is adding three junior college program scholarships of $2,000 each
Cindy said the scholarship program honors her husband’s interest in helping people get started in the profession.
“When we started the business he wanted practiioners to have an opportunity for ownership,” she said. “He always wanted to give opportunities to other people.”
The scholarships are keeping that vision alive, she said.
“So far we have been able to award scholarships to some really good candidates,” she said.
The Johncours were married 25 years and ran the company together for 15 years. The company is now in its 22nd year of operation.
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