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Hillandale Embracing A Really Tough Situation
What if you had a child with a very serious illness? How could you provide your child with as normal a life as possible while undergoing treatment? Many families from the Carolinas and around the world bring their children to the Duke University Pediatric Transplant and Cellular Therapy Division (PTCT) for cutting-edge cellular therapies. Children going through stem cell transplants are immune compromised and can’t be around large groups of people. They can’t participate in many regular childhood activities.
This is where the Hillandale Golf Course steps in with their H.E.A.R.T.S. Club (Hillandale Embracing A Really Tough Situation). The H.E.A.R.T.S. Club provides free rounds of golf to children staying at the PTCT as well as their families. Outside on a golf course, a kid can be a kid. These outings give the kids an escape from the hospital and a positive experience to anticipate. Hillandale also provides free access to the driving range, free golf equipment for the visiting families, and they host special events for the patients. Off the golf course, the H.E.A.R.T.S. Club has helped PTCT families with a wide variety of expenses related to their child’s treatment. This includes travel expenses, housing costs, automobile payments and repairs, power bills, phone bills, even assistance with burial expenses. The H.E.A.R.T.S. Club is a 501(c)(3) charity, and all applicant information is kept confidential.
The H.E.A.R.T.S. Club is a passion project for Karl Kimball, general manager of the Hillandale Golf Course in Durham, North Carolina. Kimball began playing professional golf in 1982, and has been a member of the PGA for over 40 years. When Kimball took over at Hillandale in 2011, he transformed a struggling public course into a well-known golf destination. Under his leadership, the number of annual rounds played at the Hillandale course has grown from 34,240 in 2011 to over 56,000 in 2023. Although he is a very self-effacing person, Kimball’s biography reveals that he volunteers for just about every community service project in the Durham area. Karl Kimball is also the 2025 Hall of Fame Inductee of the Carolinas PGA.
One of the best-known features of the H.E.A.R.T.S. Club is their jumbo golf cart, nick-named “Big Red”. Big Red is a fixture at many community events, and Big Red leads the parade every year at the Rainbow of Heroes fund-raiser for the Duke PTCT. If you are ever in the Durham area, you should visit the Hillandale golf course.
