benefiting St. Thomas High School
and the Jimmy Burke Endowed Scholarship

Keeping with the pace of increased success, the 18th annual St. Thomas High School Golf Invitational, held on Wednesday, November 5, 2008, was a tremendous success with net proceeds totaling over $50,000 – a 25% increase!

A total of 58 teams played either on the north or south course at BlackHorse Golf Club. Once again, the alumni teams spanned the decades from the 50’s through the 90’s, including several teams comprised exclusively of classmates such as Eagles of 1951, Class of 1958, Four from 68, Eagles of 1969, Eagles of 1974, Eagles of 1979 and Eagles of 1985.

The overall tournament winners for Low Gross were Gary Tolbert, Blake Stoehr, April Bailey and Mark Wayne. For the second year in a row, the overall Low Net winners were Dennis Phillips ‘77, Rick King, Doug Phillips ’72 and David Hord. Both teams will have their names engraved on the St. Thomas Cup, which remains on display in the school.  

There were two winners each, one for each course, for the Longest Drive, the Closest to Hole, 1st Place Net, 1st Place Gross, 2nd Place Net and 2nd Place Gross.  First place winners each received STH engraved silver cufflinks by Jason Maida ’89; second place winners each received an STH engraved silver money clip by Jason Maida ’89. In addition, the raffle prizes given away included $100 Southwest Air Gift Cards, an extended weekend at Pirates Cove Bay House, rounds of golf for four at BlackHorse, Redstone, and Braeburn courses; Ping weather shirts and Calf Skin Belts by Jason Maida. This year, two prizes were auctioned off in a live auction; Charles Russo ’80 “won” both of them: a round of golf for four at Boot Ranch and a dinner for 10 with the STH coaching staff at Damian’s Cucina Italiana.

CONTEST WINNERS

Longest Drive
Kevin McConn ’98 (North)
David Etlinger ‘01 (South)

Closest to Hole
Barry Smith ’78 (North)
Eddie Adams (South)

1st Place Net
Dennis Phillips ‘77, Rick King, Doug Phillips ’72 and David Hord (South)
Danny Hines ‘74, David Archer ‘74, Bill McConnell ‘74, Mark Hotze ’74 (North)

1st Place Gross
Gary Tolbert, Blake Stoehr, April Bailey, Mark Wayne (South)
Kevin Gibbons ‘85, Chris Whitfield, Brad Morello, Pete Romer (North)

2nd Place Net
Chris Smith ‘85, Michael Soper ‘85, Dan McCairns ‘85, David Shannon ‘85 (North)
Charles Williams ‘80, Darrell Kainer ‘80, Greg Messina ‘80, Chris Forbes (South)

2nd Place Gross
John Gremillion ‘78, Rock Gremillion ‘75, James Schultz (North)
Jack Reidy ‘79, John Caram ‘79, Hector Herrera ‘79, Tom Lile ‘88 (South)

The committee members, Tournament Chair Tony Hill ’91, Director of Advancement Jim Michalek II ’77, Special Events and Volunteer Coordinator Katie Wick, Trey Burke ’94, John Gremillion ’78, Skip Redd ’93, Current Parent Liaison Steve Rogers, Golf Coach Billy Tuten and Director of Alumni Relations Tommy Schulte ’00, give many thanks to the volunteers who assisted working the tournament: Betsy and Bob Altenburger, Jane Bosworth, Raymond Bourgeois ’70, Margaret Chiavone, Kathleen and Sam Falcona, Eric Feighl ‘90, Father Gaelens, Emily Gorndt, Carolyn McCairns, Deborah Sanchez, Sharyn Sporar and David Wick. Much appreciation is extended to the student volunteers who worked the Putting Contest: Thomas Bingham ‘11, Andrew Elliot ‘10, Simon Romero ‘10 and Blake Schoest ‘10, as well as to those who assisted with photography at the event: Graham Cull ‘09, Xavier Kelley ‘09, Christian Malek ‘10 and Ben Skeffington ‘10. Everyone’s support through sponsorship, donations and tournament play is also extremely appreciated.

HONORARY TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS

REV. RONALD SCHWENZER, C.S.B.
President

REV. JOHN HUBER, C.S.B.
Principal

TOURNAMENT SPONSORS

The 19th Annual St. Thomas Golf Invitational will be held Spring 2010. Be on the lookout for more information on the new date and location.

BACKGROUND AND PROCEEDS

The St. Thomas Golf Invitational benefits St. Thomas High School and the Jimmy Burke Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship was established in 1991 in honor of Jimmy Burke '50, whose life ended tragically in a traffic accident in 1990; Burke was a popular alumnus and the Golf Professional at Champions Golf Club in Houston for 33 years. Proceeds raised from the tournament are dedicated to help qualified young men who financially could not otherwise afford to attend St. Thomas High School. Since 1991, the total proceeds exceed $260,000.