Bubba Mullikin Memorial Disc Golf Tournament raises over $2,000 for scholarship

ABERDEEN — When Bill Mullikin was looking for a way to memorialize his son, a disc golf fundraiser seemed like the natural choice.

The Mullikin family hosted the inaugural Bubba Mullikin Memorial Scholarship Disc Golf Tournament on Saturday in Sam Benn Park with the goal of raising scholarship funds for local students looking to attend a trade school.

The scholarship fund was set up in honor of Austin “Bubba” Mullikin, who died in a motorcycle accident in June 2017.

Bubba was known as a motorcycle enthusiast but also had a passion for disc golf, which his father introduced to him at an early age.

The father-and-son pair played in tournaments in 17 states and regularly spent their summers traveling to compete.

Bubba’s older sister, Kisa Mullikin, said that the scholarship fund has been in the works since his passing.

“A scholarship fund is something that my mom has been dreaming of since our accident last year,” she said. “We hope to bless a student so that technical school is a little easier for them.”

Bubba had plans of attending technical school himself as he was enrolled at Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Phoenix at the time of his accident.

Before the tournament even began, Bill announced to the crowd that the tournament had already reached its fundraising goal of $2,000 thanks to registration fees and merchandise sales.

Bill said he wasn’t surprised by the turnout of the event when he considered all the social circles Bubba was part of.

“It’s been a year and not a day has gone by that someone hasn’t told me a story about an endearing aspect of Bubba” he said. “That boy impacted more lives in more circles that I ever could have known that he was involved in.”

The disc golf competition was more of a casual affair for some with a few players stopping after nine holes to socialize with Bubba’s friends, family and other players who were trying the game for the first time.

A handful of more experienced disc golfers did make their presence felt at the tournament. Jeremy Foremny took first and was awarded a high-end disc for his efforts.

Bill Mullikin, who bowed out of competition after the nine holes to continue organizing the event, said things went well and he was encouraged by the turnout.

“As hectic as this is and how crazy this is to try to organize it for the first time with no experience doing this, I’m not surprised to see all these people,” he said. “The turnout doesn’t surprise me because of the impact he had on his community.”

Toni Dawson, who was Bubba’s girlfriend, still feels his impact in her life. Dawson adopted disc golf and still spends time with the Mullikins, to whom she jokingly refers to as her “adoptive family.”

“I play with Bill when it’s nice out at least once a week,” Dawson said. “It’s our tradition to stay close by, practicing and playing together. The family has brought me in under their wing.”

Shooting the lowest score was secondary for most of the people in attendance and the Mullikin family is hoping people will show up to next year’s fundraiser for another 18 holes of laid back disc golf.

Kisa Mullikin said she was touched to see a high number of people give the game a try in honor of her brother.

“It’s been really cool to see how many people really love and miss my brother,” she said. “It has been humbling to see how many people in the area miss him as much as we do. It gets you right in the heart.”