John McKeeman ran the Coeur d’Alene Marathon on Sunday in 3 hours, 41 minutes and 10 seconds. 

On Tuesday, June 2, he and 15 friends will take on another marathon of sorts in the seventh annual Coeur54 golf fundraiser that has helped nonprofits to the tune of more than $200,000. 

“The ability of this event to raise as much as it has and put every single cent of it into charity is awesome,” McKeeman said. 

The group will start its day at Coeur d’Alene Public Golf Course, then head to Avondale Golf Club in Hayden Lake, and finish up at Hayden Lake Country Club. The courses allow the golfers to play for free.

All told, they’ll be out there more than 12 hours. And yes, while golf is fun, it’s a long, tiring day. 

“No one really wants to golf for a week or so after,” McKeeman said, laughing.

Support is strong for Coeur54. Already, more than $50,000 through 137 contributors has been raised toward the goal of $61,000. 

This year’s golfers include Dustin Ainsworth, Ryan DeSchryver, Scott Kramer, Tim Skelton, Brian Longwell, Stewart Kuespert, Conor Hammons, Zach Davis, Dylan Hill, Austin Westphal, Mark Krell, Drew Dittman, John Hutchins, Mike Hamilton and Tyler Sanders. 

All are good golfers and will be compete for low-gross and best-net honors. But the day's real goal is to raise money to help others. 

McKeeman, who will be in his third Coeur54, learned of it four years ago and was surprised to learn of its success. 

“You guys just golf all day and people give you all this money? It seems crazy,” he said. 

It’s not. 

The 54 Foundation was founded in 2020 to assist nonprofits in Kootenai County. The first year, Coeur54 had eight golfers and raised $15,000 for CDAIDE. Last year, with 16 golfers, it topped $60,000 with $12,000 each to Idaho Drug Free youth, Growing the Stem, Safe Start and Village of Hope, and $15,000 to six other organizations.  

Safe Passage is this year’s primary beneficiary. It provides crisis response 24/7 helping all ages affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, and child abuse. In 2025 they performed over 6,451 services, an increase in 37% from the year before. 

Ainsworth said it’s not just about golf. They become ambassadors for the nonprofits, raising awareness of their good work.

“It was an idea,” Ainsworth said. “It was just an idea. Without these guys, this couldn’t have happened.” 

Starting at 6 a.m., under what is expected to be cloudy skies, golfers going out in fours will be playing fast, but not furious.  

“The first group’s responsibility is basically to burn rubber,” McKeeman said. “Hit and go. It has the feel of a race, a little bit.” 

Donations can be made at www.coeur54.com.