Even with the formidable and unexpected challenges they had to face while steering their clubs through 2020, many managers still jumped at the chance to also find ways, and the time, to continue to give back to others in need.
When I was a kid, three of my buddies and I participated in the “Longest Day of Golf,” sponsored by the American Cancer Society. A handful of courses in our area put together foursomes who would collect donations based on how many holes we played. All of the money then went to a terrific cause.
Not only did I get to play more than 100 holes of golf in a single day, but it made me feel like I was doing it for the greater good. We saw an awful lot of Chapel Hills Golf Course in Ashtabula, Ohio that day, and I will never forget how tired I was when the sun set. More than 30 years later, I can only imagine how many days it would take now for my body to recover from such a marathon of swings.
I mention this because as part of our search for “Top Innovators” content for the December 2020 issue of C+RB (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/december-2020-issue-answering-the-call/), we came across several examples of some unique “greater good” efforts that were undertaken by club managers across the country. Even with the formidable and unexpected challenges they had to face while steering their clubs through 2020, many managers still jumped at the chance to also find ways, and the time, to continue to give back to others in need.
For example, in early November Ryan Walls, General Manager/COO of BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Jeff Fitzherbert, the club’s Director of Golf, played a combined 250 holes of golf to raise funds for the First Tee of the Palm Beaches.
Participating in the Fifth Annual 100-Hole Challenge held at Jupiter (Fla.) Country Club, Walls and Fitzherbert raised more than $15,000 for the First Tee through donations and pledges made by BallenIsles members. The two played 125 holes each, over eight and a half hours, covering approximately 18 miles. “In addition to [those who donated], I’d like to thank our sponsors Tylenol and Biofreeze,” Walls quipped after finishing.
At Champion Hills, a Troon property in Hendersonville, N.C., Dana Schultz, PGA, CMCA, Champion Hills’ General Manager/COO, and Scooter Buhrman, the club’s PGA Head Golf Professional, played 154 holes of golf over eight hours and raised more than $26,000 for the Champion Hills Employee Scholarship Fund. Champion Hills members pledged money for how many holes Schultz and Buhrman would be able to play, as well as for each par, birdie, and eagle (collectively they made 92 pars and 23 birdies).
“It was a long and exhausting day of golf, but in the end it was worth it,” Schultz said.
As impressive as those two-person efforts were, Kacie Mulligan, the 1st Assistant Pro at the Lawrence (N.Y.) Yacht & Country Club, which is managed by KemperSports, took on the marathon challenge all by herself, and threw in a speed-golf component for good measure.
Mulligan played 156 holes in 11 1/2 hours by racing around in a golf cart and running to the ball. Also playing for membership pledges, she raised nearly $40,000 for the American Cancer Society and Folds of Honor.
Mulligan, who has an immediate family member who is fighting cancer, had discussed the possibility of doing a marathon for charity with her friend Brittany Ferrante, Assistant Golf Professional at The Village Club of Sands Point (N.Y.), after Ferrante played 200 holes in a day back in September, raising around $42,000.
“It’s very surreal,” Mulligan told Newsday about her extended dashes around the course. “You keep moving the whole time and you don’t feel any pain—then you stop moving and you are like ‘Oh, God!’”
But the good feeling that comes from the appreciation expressed by those who benefit from all of these efforts can quickly make the physical soreness subside. After four golf pros on the staff of Weekapaug Golf Club in Westerly, R.I. played 54 holes on the club’s nine-hole course and then presented the local Habitat for Humanity chapter with a check for $19,000 that was raised through member contributions, the chapter’s Executive Director highlighted how vital the support provided by these events can be, especially during a trying year like 2020.
“Given the times, we just weren’t sure how this year would go, so we were completely blown away as the total kept climbing,” said Habitat for Humanity’s Colin Penney. “$19,000 is truly astonishing, and it is also timely, as we just closed an application round for home ownership units and received more than 80 inquiries.”
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