After 18 holes of golf under clear skies at Wichita’s Willowbend Golf Club, tournament officials tabulated player scores and announced the top finishing three teams in three flights – including first-flight winners Sammie Lane, Joe Poston ’75, Zac Potter ’10 and Kevin Seal.
The names of the top winning foursome will be engraved on the Janke Memorial Trophy, shown in the photo at right. The trophy, a new addition to the tradition of the alumni association’s annual golf tournament, is now on display in the Heritage Room of the Woodman Alumni Center.
Shocker Open chair Steve Cohlmia ’74 of Carey, Thomas, Hoover & Breault, which sponsored the event’s driving range warm-up session, was pleased with the May 19 tournament. “We had a great response,” Cohlmia says. “There was plenty of food and drinks – and The Butler Group really stepped up to the plate in a big way as the Open’s presenting sponsor.”
Zac Potter '10 are the 2011 tournament's first-flight
winning foursome. Willowbend Golf Club again
played host for the annual event.
A core group of volunteers assisted Cohlmia with organizing the event: Clark Carrier ’10, Ben Drouhard ’97/04, Bob Dwerlkotte ’75, Angela Dudley ’98, Dick Elliott ’71, Dotty Harpool ’87, Curt LaGree ’59, Ryan Powell ’03, Alicia Sanchez ’07, Tom Wagner ’99 and Stacie Williamson ’05.
After a mid-morning registration and lunch, which was sponsored by Intrust Bank, tournament play got under way with a shotgun start at noon. While fun on the links was the order of the day, the Shocker Open sports a serious purpose. Event proceeds help student-recruitment efforts; specifically, funds raised support the annual Shocker Honors Scholar Banquet, a joint alumni association/undergraduate admissions event that recognizes the academic accomplishments of the top 10 percent of Wichita-area high school juniors – and introduces them to the educational opportunities at Wichita State.
As tournament competition heated up in the afternoon, players were kept refreshed with drinks and snacks, sponsored by House of Schwan and QuikTrip, and challenged with chances to win a hole-in-one contest on each par-3, as well as a putting contest with a $5,000 cash prize to the winner – sponsored by Zeni Pilates & Yoga Apparel.
The event culminated with an awards ceremony, sponsored by Triplett, Woolf & Garretson LLC. Prizes were awarded to members of the top three teams in three flights based on score. Prizes also went to the winners of closest-to-the-hole, longest-drive and longest-putt contests. All golfers exited the clubhouse with a doorprize, a set of four WuShock-etched glasses, a sleeve of Nike golf balls, sponsored by Tang’s Golf, and other giveaways. Tournament participants also had the opportunity of bidding on silent-auction items ranging from golf equipment and clothes, to electronics and home-decor items.
Joining the 2011 Shocker Open sponsors already mentioned were Carrier Weather, Contemporary Communications Inc. and Miracle Signs. In addition, hole sponsors and silent-auction contributors assisted in the success of the spring tournament.
