Nanci Bowen portrait unveiled at Tift Regional Medical Center

TIFTON — Visitors to Tift Regional Medical Center will now find a portrait of Tifton native and retired golf professional Nanci Bowen in the hospital’s main lobby.

Tift Regional unveiled the portrait to Bowen and her family on Oct. 15 in honor of Bowen’s years of charitable fundraising for hospice and cancer patients.

“This is quite an honor,” Bowen said. “I appreciate the recognition; but, it’s always been about helping patients.”

The Nanci Bowen Golf Tournament is held each spring in Tifton at the Spring Hill Country Club, benefiting the patients of Hospice of Tift Area and the TRMC Anita Stewart Oncology Center who need extra support. Officials said funds have been used in many ways to assist patients with special needs, including installing handicap ramps for homebound hospice patients and paying for the utility bills of cancer patients undergoing treatment.

Officials from Tift Regional said the annual Tree of Life Lighting Ceremony, held each December, also benefits this fund — and that the annual golf tournament has raised more than $685,000 since 2000.

Bowen said she was inspired by her aunt, Betty Bowen, whose husband Huie Bowen was a patient of Hospice of Tift Area before passing away.

“Aunt Betty was so appreciative of the compassionate care Uncle Huie received by hospice,” she said. “She helped me launch the tournament by organizing teams and gathering sponsors.”

Claire Byrnes, Tift Regional’s senior vice president of ambulatory services, said Bowen’s efforts have made an impact on the lives of many patients.

“We are so grateful to Nanci,” Byrnes said. “She has raised the profile of our services and has helped develop a fund that really assists those in need. One example is a chemotherapy patient who told our nurses that he was having trouble sleeping in his bed at night while undergoing treatment. He said he wished he had one of the recliners used in the chemotherapy department for patients, because it was more comfortable for him. So, our oncology team used this special fund to purchase the patient a recliner and had it delivered so he could sleep better at home.

“This is just one of many examples.”

Bowen is a retired Ladies Professional Golf Association tour player. She attended the University of Georgia on a full golf scholarship and joined the LPGA immediately after graduating in 1989 with an undergraduate degree in public relations.

Bowen’s professional golf career was highlighted in 1995 with a win at the Nabisco Dinah Shore, one of the LPGA’s four major championships. Other achievements included two runner-up finishes in 1997 at the Rochester International and the Susan G. Komen International, plus several top ten finishes at LPGA tournaments between 1994 and 2005.

For 16 years, Bowen was involved in the business operations of the LPGA Tour organization headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla., including service on its board of directors. She was elected to the executive committee in 1999 and served as vice president in 2001.

Bowen later served as athletic director at Wesleyan College in Macon, and hosted a podcast titled “All Things Golf.” She currently resides in Travelers Rest, S.C. and is pursuing a career in health coaching.