On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the AHS Parent Teacher Students Association sponsored the third annual golf-a-thon at Penderbrook Golf Course. The event featured parents, students and coaches from the AHS community. In all, there were 18 golfers.

“My recommendation is to not hold this event in the future and instead utilize the efforts and sponsorships different ways like the directory and the [Red and White] Golf Classic in the spring,” said event chair Cary Vu.

Participants were required to raise $200 prior to the event. This could either be from flat donations or per-holes-played donations (i.e. $1 per hole). Half of this money went to the PTSA and the other half was divided among different AHS organizations according to what the golfer wanted to support. In the end, however, the PTSA had to cover the costs of the golf reservation and those who did not raise the $200.
“We raised $2250 in sponsorships and the majority of that money went to covering the costs of the event,” said Vu. “The organizations raised nowhere near as much money as they did in the past. In 2007, we raised $8000 and this year we only raised $3500.”

The difficult economy is the assumed explanation for this statistic, but Vu only partially agrees.

“The organizations that have the commitment to raise money, raise it. The band raised over $750, but the boys and girls lacrosse teams raised less than $200,” she said. “Some of it is the economy but it’s also that lack of commitment from the organizations and a lack of parents supporting their school.”

The goal of the event was to eliminate the need for individual organizations to hold fundraisers. The organizations were instead supposed to support this fundraiser.

“Individual groups have a hard time letting go of proven fudraising methods for their individual organiztions,” said PTSA treasurer and assistant event director Charles Hookey.

Although the economics behind the venture may not have been beneficial, the golfers participating had a good time.

“I had a lot of fun playing in the golf-a-thon because it was a nice day and I won $50 to the gift shop after for having the longest drive,” said junior Greg Nielsen.

During the round, three different holes were designated for three different competitions: longest drive, longest putt and closest to the pin. At the end of the day the golfers met in the clubhouse to eat the included dinner and the winners were awarded their prizes. The remaining golfers were given raffle tickets and chose from various other prizes.

“Myself and the PTSA put a lot of effort into this event and the results showed that it really wasn’t that successful,” said Vu.