UNSCRIPTED: PAR-TEE CLUB Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament Huge Success!

Unscripted By Keith Edmonds
FWIS Contributing Writer

The Par-Tee Golf Club held its Annual Scholarship Golf Outing August 23-25, 2024, and it was an impressive event! Over 140 players (Men & Women) participated in the 3-day event, and I had the opportunity to see some incredibly talented men and women play this game the “right way”. The tournament was held at Brookwood Golf Course here in Fort Wayne, with the proceeds providing educational financial assistance scholarships to disadvantaged youth from the Fort Wayne community. For over 50 years, the club has provided over $311,000 dollars to Fort Wayne youth since its beginning in 1968 and continues to be a beacon in our community. After viewing the club’s webpage and seeing the joy that the participants showed during this event, it became very apparent to me that their Mission Statement which states : “We aim to make a positive impact beyond the fairways, enriching the lives of those around us. Our goal is to create opportunities for individuals to grow, learn, and connect through the game of golf.”

The format for the tournament was such that everyone had the opportunity for competitive fun and win their share of a nice money pool. Each player was responsible for playing their own ball (not like scramble golf where a team of four players alternate taking shots in a “best ball” format). After each player plays 18 holes then scores are tallied, and the next day players are placed in “flights” depending on their score from the day before. (Basically, they were put into groupings with other players that had similar 1st round scores to keep things even). The player pool of 128 men and 16 women provided us with sound play and terrific shot-making!

There were 11 total flights for players to be placed in and they were as follows:

Men’s Open (Age Under 60 yrs) - (Championship, 1st Flight, 2nd Flight)
Men’s Senior (Age 60-69 yrs) - (Championship, 1st Flight, 2nd Flight)
Men’s Super Seniors (70 and Over) - (Championship, 1st Flight, 2nd Flight )
Women’s Division - (Championship, 1st Flight)

For those of you that have never played the game of golf, in my opinion it is one of the hardest if not the hardest sport to play as everything falls on you individually! This is why it’s almost comical when you hear some people say, “I think that I’ll start playing golf,” then expect to be great immediately! (How many of you know what I mean?) The winner of each flight received a cash award for their winnings and each of them had to play extremely well to be the beneficiary of winning $200.00 (1st ), $100.00 (2nd ) and $50.00 (3rd ) for their efforts!

The players came from all over the country, and after speaking with many of them, they stated almost to the person that this is one of the BEST tournaments in the country! The people of the Par-Tee organization have made it their mission to serve this community with outstanding golf, an enthusiastic desire to uplift our youth, and to make golf the tool that brings it all together! This tournament was just one of many events that the Par-Tee club has during the summer and they are always looking to promote and inspire our community and youth to become a part. Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned veteran, this organization is for you! For more information regarding this event or any other outing planned by Par-Tee for next season, please go to their website at: fwparteegolf@gmail.com you’ll be glad that you did, it’s a great game!

In 2023, thanks to your generous support, we were able to provide:

- 22 educational financial assistance scholarships

- A total of $11,000 in scholarship funds

Here are some basic golf terms for beginners:

1. Address: The golfer's stance and positioning of the club before taking a swing.
2. Aim: The direction in which a golfer intends to hit the ball.
3. Alignment: The process of positioning the body and clubface correctly.
4. Par: The number of strokes an expert golfer is expected to make on the hole or course.
5. Birdie: Scoring one stroke less than par.
6. Eagle: Scoring two under par.
7. Bogey: Scoring one stroke over par.
8. Hole-In-One: Hitting the ball directly into the hole from the tee.
9. Tee Box: The area where a golfer starts a hole.
10. Fairway: The closely mown area between the tee and the green