On May 12, Scottsdale’s Silverado Golf Club was awash in green—Irish green, that is—as 36 golf carts drove to their first tees serenaded by the distinctive hum of Irish bagpipes. With 18 foursomes participating in the 1st Annual Irish Golf Scramble, the event was deemed a huge fundraising success for Scottsdale Sister Cities Killarney Committee partnering with the Valley’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Faire.
Proceeds will support the Inaugural Scottsdale-Killarney Student Golf Exchange (June 17-26 in Ireland; October 26-Nov. 4 in Scottsdale), and the 2023 Arizona Colleen Mackenzie Shane who will represent our state’s Irish diaspora to Arizona’s six Irish Sister Cities this summer.
The “Luck of the Irish” was certainly with our youth ambassador golfers as they shot a 52 to earn the 1st place trophy. The foursome of Diane Terrible, Jim Haas, Brian Bond, and Dan Sheperd placed second, shooting 56.
With a typical Irish wink, “Better Luck Next Time” trophies went to Max and Elsbeth Haechler and Ron and Mary Beth McCullagh.
Individual honors went to:
• Jaxson Butcher (a student golfer from Fountain Hills): Longest Putt;
• Joe Mascio: Longest Drive
• Ron McCullagh: Closest to the Pin
The event drew Valley-wide support as Chandler-Tullamore Sister Cities (Ellen Harrington, chair) and Fountain Hills Sister Cities (Carol J. Carroll) both entered foursomes; Arizona Sister Cities claimed a Hole Sponsorship; and an eclectic mix of businesses and individuals sponsored breakfast, lunch, holes, and prizes. These sponsors are gratefully acknowledged:
Killarney Committee chair JoAnn Garner proclaimed, “We far exceeded our goals for number of foursomes, sponsorships, mulligans sold, basket donations, and 50/50 raffle proceeds.” “But, most importantly, all around fun was had by all,” quipped Jeff Aspland, chair of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Faire.
If March 17 is the “Greenest Day in the Desert”, then May 12 was certainly the second “Greenest Day in the Desert.” A host of volunteers made this first-time event so outstanding. Among them are: Lynn Cosgrove, Callan Gist, Mary Moriarity, Ciara Archer, Heather Gala, Linda and Frank Gruber, Kathy George, Suzie Austin, Susan Salembier, Bob Rink, Joan Jones, Joe and Cori Brett, and Terri Thorson.
Photo Captions:
Above: Seated: 2023 Colleen Mackenzie Shane with Youth Ambassadors (L to R) Raleigh Lard, Aaryan Dwivedi, Payton Connelly, Oscar Uribe.
Below text:
Top left: And they’re off to the tunes of Bagpiper Len Wood.
Top right: Scramble chairs Jeff Aspland and JoAnn Garner beam as Youth Ambassadors Raleigh Lard, Payton Connelly, Aaryan Dwivedi and Oscar Uribe show off their 1st place trophies.
Middle left: Even the losers became winners!
Middle right: Celebrating the partnership between SSCA and St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Faire are: (L to R) Cori Brett, Jeff Aspland, Roger Nelson, Callan Gist, and Joe Brett (who is sporting a Killarney Golf and Fishing Club logo'd shirt).
Bottom left:Max Haechler “loves” our Registration Table volunteers: Suzie Austin, Mary Moriarity, and Callan Gist.
Bottom right: Our youth ambassadors enjoy a light moment with Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega.
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