The 2026 Marsh Landing Country Club Pink Ribbon Trio event continued Oct. 1 with Tennis for Tatas. Forty players in 20 teams of two took to the Marsh Landing tennis courts for some friendly competition and to raise critical funds to fight breast cancer.
Tennis for Tatas was one of three related events benefiting Pink Ribbon Jax — the others were Mahjong for Mammos on Sept. 29 and Golf for the Girls on Oct. 6, though the golfing portion for the last event was hindered by rain.
Pink Ribbon Jax is a local, all-volunteer nonprofit organization that saves lives by funding breast imaging services for uninsured and underinsured women and men in Northeast Florida. These services include screening and diagnostic mammograms, breast ultrasounds, breast MRIs and biopsies.
In past years, the Women’s Golf Association at Marsh Landing has hosted an annual nine-hole golf tournament to raise money for the nonprofit.
“We’ve lost members to breast cancer,” said association member and past president Wendy Waller. “A lot of our golf buddies, they’re survivors of breast cancer. So, this has been near and dear to us.”
One in eight women and one in 726 men will get breast cancer in their lifetime. But, if caught early, it is 99% treatable.
“Women do a great job taking care of other people, but we need to pause and start taking care of ourselves,” said Waller. “So, that means do your self-breast-exam, do buddy checks with friends and get your mammograms.”
This year, Waller took responsibility for the annual fundraiser and decided to expand upon it. Not everyone at Marsh Landing plays golf, so she added the mahjong and tennis events.
In arranging the Oct. 1 event, she asked Director of Tennis Josh Vissman for the loan of some of the courts and was surprised when he offered all 10. That allowed for a greater number of players, and therefore greater fundraising.
The event sold out.
“The leadership at Marsh Landing, they’re all supporting and helping us to make this event successful,” Waller said.
Her fundraising goal across all three events was $10,000. Last year, the nine-hole golf event alone raised $5,500. And, as predicted, the expanded effort brought in more participants. In 2025, 48 golfers took part. This year, Waller expected participation to reach 180 across the trio of events.
Even those who did not compete in the events had an opportunity to help through the purchase of raffle tickets. Several local businesses donated — some to all three raffles — and even the pros at Marsh Landing donated lessons.
Waller said the primary sponsor was Danny Horn of Ataraxis AI. She also mentioned that Eric Kehle, co-owner of the Restore Hyper Wellness studio in Jacksonville Beach, donated $50 gift cards to each of the winners.
In the intense tennis tournament, teams played 12 minutes and then recorded their scores before moving to the next round. In all, they played five rounds.
Tennis for Tatas winners were:
