Every year, Jesuit hosts the annual MAGIS golf classic. This year, in particular, was one of the best yet, with a large participation as well as much money raised.
This past Columbus Day, the MAGIS Golf Classic, held at the Stonebriar Country Club, saw yet another great turnout. Mrs. Pat Sayers, who has been the tournament coordinator for 2 years, said she was, “very pleased,” with the way the tournament turned out and that they, “received good compliments from the golfers.”
With 240 participating golfers and over 120 volunteers, the MAGIS Golf Classic is ranked as the 7th largest charity golf tournament by the Dallas Business Journal. Mrs. Pat Sayers, director of the tournament, describes the tournament as unique because, “there is a giveaway or contest at every hole for golfers to win prizes.” The golf classic aims to make it, “the most fun you will have while golfing,” and most of the participants find that to be true.
The tournament consists of a couple different events. The night before, there is a dinner for all the sponsors of the tournament. The next day begins with the tournament itself that usually lasts all day. At the end of the tournament, qualifying golfers compete in a shootout and a putting contest for prizes. Mrs. Sayers stated that “the winner of the shootout was awarded a trip for 4 to the Lajites Resort and the winner of the of putting contest was awarded a $2,000 custom made suit.” To end the long day, the participants are invited to an award dinner at the country club.
According to Mrs. Sayers, the tournament, “grossed over $446,000 this year before all expenses.” The profits from the tournament go directly to benefitting the Jesuit endowment fund, alumni service projects, and Jesuit athletics. Before the MAGIS Golf Classic was started, there were three separate golf tournaments to raise money for the three departments. The three departments decided to combine their resources and have one large tournament that can increase their profits.
The tournament is more than just a way for Jesuit to raise money, though. The participating golfers all have a connection with Jesuit whether they are alumni themselves or have children who have gone through Jesuit. Mr. Fitzsimmons, who has been volunteering at the Magis since it began, says he believes what makes the tournament so special is that it, “gives us the opportunity to raise money for Jesuit, come together as a community, and allows some of the golfers the opportunity to meet some of the Jesuit students.”
Mr. Fitzsimmons recruits current students and trains them to be forecaddies for the golfers while they play. When asked how he felt this year turned out he said, “I thought it was one of the best years. I mean it’s a phenomenal tournament. You can tell there is so much work put into it and it worked out extremely well.” He felt especially happy about the compliments he received from the golfers saying, “Every year we get great comments about the students and how important they are and this year I got the most compliments about the students. Many of the golfers said the students really made them feel welcome.”
This year was a big success when compared to last year and more improvements can be expected in the future. Next year, we should see another big turnout as the popularity continues to grow.
