Grant Haney, Staff Reporter
It is time once again to lace up your golf shoes, grab your club and hit some balls, for the benefit of CSU Monterey Bay athletics.
The 11 annual President’s Cup is back. Bayonet and Black Horse golf courses located on Ford Ord will be the location of the tournament. The field may not consist of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, but for Monterey locals, this may feel like the tournament of the year.
An exciting new addition to this year’s tournament is the recently changed first nine holes on Bayonet golf course. In the past year, the two courses have been revamped to change into the much-anticipated resort. This year, the front nine will be new and challenging consisting of new strategically placed pits of sand known as bunkers. The back nine remain the same with their traditional style.
The tournament is set to start Friday, Nov. 2. Proceeds will support all CSUMB athletics by raising money for sports teams’ scholarship funds. The tournament is a 9:30 a.m. shot gun start. This means teams will start at the same time on different holes throughout the golf course.
There are multiple options to sign up and play. Participants can sign up as a single and be placed on a team, or a group can create a team of four players.
The Bayonet and Black Horse staff looks forward to this greatly anticipated fundraiser. General Manager Joe Priddy understands the importance of this tournament. By providing our course for the event we, “build a great partnership between us and the school,” explained Priddy. Priddy has seen the effort provided by CSUMB staff including Larry Cline and hopes the event will bring a “full field.”
Larry Cline, first year assistant athletics director, has helped to create a new formant for this year’s event. Cline set the tournament up in a unique shamble style. “It’s the perfect format,” Cline said. “Everyone can play the new course with their own ball,” he continued. In a shamble format each person hits a drive. The foursome then picks the drive they would like to use. Each golfer plays a ball from there. Two players’ balls are scored after each hole culminating their score.
Along with a new format, Cline had other intentions. His goal is to “reduce expenses and generate more money for the teams.” The fee is $295.00 per person, which includes a variety of benefits. Players will receive a golf cart, Footjoy golf shoes, Antigua golf shirt, one mulligan (free shot), continental breakfast, BBQ lunch and a chance to participate in the contests. This year’s golf contests are exciting as well. Each par three gives contestants a chance to be closest to the hole as well as the long drive and accuracy contest.
Cline also wants to turn the President’s Cup into a, “friend raiser, not just a fundraiser,” a sentiment often used by CSUMB president Dianne Harrison. First year contestant Robert Sottile thinks the fundraiser is great. “Student athletes make sacrifices such as not having jobs for their sport. It is good to repay these athletes and provide them with some help.”
By maximizing funds for all sports teams, Cline believes that the CSUMB community will understand the importance of college athletics by creating quality fundraisers.
There are many different sponsorship opportunities which give donators recognition in the tournament program. The deadline for signing up is Oct. 26 and there are only 144 spots available.
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