This past Monday, Midwestern University held its annual Chippin' in for Students Golf Outing at the Arrowhead Country Club in Glendale, Arizona. A full field of 144 golfers joins us on the links to help raise scholarship funds for MWU students. Despite the 95-degree heat, the event was a great success.

The University is honored to have so many corporate partners, vendors, preceptors, and alumni to support this annual fundraising event. Our Diamond Sponsor, Chanen Construction, and Platinum Sponsor, Tri-West Healthcare Alliance, led the list of more than 30 benefactors of this event. They were able to join us on the golf course and know that their contributions were helping our students finance their education. At our fall Bright Lights, Shining Stars Gala, we award $30,000 in scholarships that were raised in part by our golf outing.


Photo: Nurse Anesthesia faculty member Shari Burns is flanked by two of her students, Ali Baghai and Brian Knight

Dr. Goeppinger welcomed the crowd for the 12:30 pm shotgun start, and soon the 36 golf carts headed off to the tee boxes. While the round took nearly 6 hours to complete, and the heat soared into the 90s, the day was marked by friendly rivalries and extra mulligans and special "putting tape" (which allowed you to count a putt if it was close).

At the dinner and awards program, Dr. G introduced an OT student and scholarship recipient, Marna Haverkamp, who shared her gratitude to the participants and reminded us that the event benefitted our students. Awards were then given out for the team with the most balls in the water (at 17!), the highest scoring team (at 83), and the first and second place teams. In the interdisciplinary race for golf bragging rights, this year the team of pharmacists edged out the team of dentists, 53 to 55!



Photo: Golfers are ready to hit the links!

To conclude the evening, MWU's academic deans conducted a raffle with prizes ranging from golf-related apparel to 1-hour massages and hotel packages. Dr. John Burdick served as emcee, and Dr. Mary Lee get the pace moving as the academic leaders delivered raffle prizes to the lucky winners.

All in all, the day was a tremendous success and a fun time for all. My team (MWU Admissions Director Jim Walter, MWU Facilities Director Bill Frantz, and MWU Executive Assistant Barb Grassy) finished at a respectable 5 under par with only 14 balls in the water. And we only used two mulligans each, I promise!

A special thanks to all of our sponsors and all of our golfers for supporting MWU and our students. We hope to see you next year out on the course with us!