Brady Button Memorial Golf Scramble Celebrates a 'Best Friend'
More than 80 people participate in fourth-annual golf outing that honors late Lindsey Wilson University employee by raising money to support university's students, men's basketball program.
COLUMBIA, Ky. (09/20/2025) — The Pines at Lindsey Wilson golf course was full on Friday, Sept. 19, as more than 80 people gathered to play golf in remembrance of a best friend who spent much of his life promoting the Lindsey Wilson University mission.
The largest crowd yet participated in the fourth-annual Brady Button Memorial Golf Scramble, which supports the Brady C. Button Endowed Scholarship and Lindsey Wilson men's basketball program.
A Barren County, Kentucky, native and 1998 Lindsey Wilson graduate, Button was a standout basketball player and later a development officer who spent more than 16 years raising scholarship funds to support Lindsey Wilson students.
Shortly after he died of cancer in 2021 at the age of 45, friends and family members organized the golf fundraiser in Button's memory.
"Brady loved Lindsey Wilson, and he loves all of these people who are playing here today," said Dr. Emiley Button, Button's wife of 19 years. "Because of them, his legacy will live on at Lindsey Wilson."
As Emiley noted, her late husband "never met a stranger."
"He was just very personable and outgoing," she said. "He was an all-around great guy."
That's why Button was "everyone's best friend," according to Lindsey Wilson men's basketball coach Chris Starks.
"I have like two or three best friends, but Brady had a hundred best friends, and a lot of them are here today," said Starks, who helped start the golf event along with Dean of Students Chris Schmidt.
Pete Cornett Jr. '01 -- who made a three-hour drive from his Harlan, Kentucky, home to play in the golf outing -- said a big reason Button had so many best friends was because of how he treated others.
"He always looked for the best in everyone," said Cornett. "He was just a genuine person, and that's why his legacy is so important."
As a Lindsey Wilson student, Button was elected 1995 homecoming king by the student body, and as a shooting guard he helped the 1996-97 men's basketball team make the program's first appearance in the NAIA national tournament.
Button's brother-in-law, Brian Shirley '99 of Glasgow, Kentucky, said: "Like Brady, I bleed blue, and I'm a Blue Raider for life."
The annual event left Button's mother, Debbie Button-Wells, searching for words to express her feelings after seeing so many people turn out to support her son's legacy.
"I truly cannot put into words how much I appreciate this," she said. "To see this many people who meant so much to Brady is truly touching."
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university's 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
Media Attachments
More than 80 people participated in the fourth-annual Brady Button Memorial Golf Scramble, held Friday, Sept. 19, at The Pines at Lindsey Wilson golf course.
Lindsey Wilson University Dean of Students Chris Schmidt, left, and men’s basketball coach Chris Starks flank a portrait of the late Brady C. Button ’98 on Friday, Sept. 19, at The Pines at Lindsey Wilson golf course. More than 80 people participated in the fourth-annual Brady Button Memorial Golf Scramble, held to raise money to support Lindsey Wilson students and the men’s basketball program.
Dr. Emiley Button, left, is joined by the Buttons’ children, Laken, 13, and Landree, 17, on Friday, Sept. 19, at The Pines at Lindsey Wilson golf course. More than 80 people participated in the fourth-annual Brady Button Memorial Golf Scramble, held to raise money to support Lindsey Wilson students and the men’s basketball program. Laken played in the golf scramble named after his late father for the first time this year.