April 7, 2014
It may have seemed like any of the many other tournaments that take place in the golf hamlet of Horseshoe Bay, Texas, but for the 120 players gathered for the St. Paul’s Golf tournament March 31, this round at Summit Rock Golf Course had a special purpose.
Each golfer was a parishioner or friend of St. Paul’s who played to reduce to financially support the parish’s Linda Finn Family Life Center. Tournament activities not only included golf, but raffles, live and silent auctions and a celebration dinner held in the family life center and cooked by members of the St. Paul’s Knights of Columbus council. The event was beyond successful, garnering approximately $80,000 for the cause.
“Beyond raising money, this event did what I hoped it would do, which was bring the members of the community closer together,” said Father Rúben Patiño, CSP, pastor of St. Paul’s.
And the community at large came out in force to support with tournament. The round of golf sold its maximum 120 players in two weeks, and the dinner sold out in three weeks, according to Bob Schweizer, the tournament chairman. Add to that the more than 30 local businesses that sponsored the event.
Playing at Summit Rock, a private Jack Nicklaus signature championship course in Horseshoe Bay, was a main attraction for the event.
“Most people don’t get to play on that course very often, if at all, [as they may not be members of Summit Rock]” Mr. Schweizer explained. “So that was a big deal.”
Blake Wagner, who played golf for Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., said she and her partner Deano Karavites came from Denver especially to play in the tournament.
“[Summit Rock] is a really nice course,” said Ms. Wagner, whose mother is a St. Paul’s parishioner. “And it is challenging because it takes a precise shot.”
There was also a concerted effort to include non-golfers in the event festivities, said Mr. Schweizer, a St. Paul’s parishioner for 17 years with his wife, Paige. The silent auction items were available for view and bid after Mass the day before the tournament, and each item had a E-bay-style “buy it now” price so people could walk away with their newfound treasure. There was also a live auction and raffles. Lively bidding was the key to success for both auctions, and all proceeds benefitted St. Paul’s.
Mike Kerr, chairman of the capitol campaign that made the family life center a reality, said the parish was in “dire need” of the new facility.
“We had no space for our ministries and groups to function,” he said, adding, “This tournament has benefitted us on the financial side, but it makes St. Paul’s more public, more active in the community. It brought a lot of people together for a good cause.
The project took approximately three years to conceive, plan and complete. Construction took about 12 months, and the parish has already raised all but $1.2 million of the approximately $3 million budget. The family life center features a catering kitchen and space for 500 people to sit auditorium-style or about 200 seated at tables. The capital project also included improvements to the main worship space, parish offices and religious education classrooms.
“We are now not just a place where people go to Church on Sunday,” said Father Patiño. “We have the room and have positioned ourselves to grow our community and grow out in to the community.”
The family life center and golf tournament have weaved even tighter the fabric of this faith community.
“The people who planned and participated in various ways in this tournament – there is now just such a bond there,” said Mr. Schweizer.
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