By Kieran Wilson
The 1st Annual FUN-Raising Golf Tournament took place on June 9th at the Dennis Highlands Golf Course. With 88 golfers, divided into 22 teams of four, and the entire Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox team in attendance, there was plenty of action to be had in the Florida-Style Scramble style tournament.
Mark Clausen, a member of the Y-D board of directors and its head of fundraising, helped organize the entire event. He and his team have been working since December 2022 to put together the tournament and they hoped to raise $15,000.
He said, “The type of tournament we’re running is kind of a unique tournament. Baseball players are here, prizes at every hole. You know, a lot of different things afterwards, kind of engaging things.”
Aside from the overall team competition, there were various events at other holes, including an “Air Cannon” challenge, a putting contest, and a costume contest.
Clausen came up with the idea for this style of tournament as a way to honor his father, who died of leukemia at the age of 53. Clausen and his wife, Joanna, started the organization, MARJO, which helps organize golf tournaments and fundraise money for leukemia research and has been doing so for over 30 years.
Clausen said, “I wanted to do something…you know a testimony to my dad because we’re very proud of him. So my wife and I started this golf tournament. We had like eight people play, and raised $150 bucks and gave it to the Leukemia Society of America. And then we had more people find out about it and more people wanted to help. Five years later we had 64 people, 10 years later we had 160 people, so it just kind of blossomed.”
Following the conclusion of the tournament, there was a reception, a lunch, and both silent and live auctions, which certainly helped to achieve the organization’s goal of raising $15,000.
Coach Scott Pickler also spoke briefly, thanking the volunteers and the sponsors, and generating excitement for the Red Sox’s upcoming season.
All in all, Mark Clausen, his team, and the volunteers made Y-D’s 1st Annual FUN-Raising Golf Tournament a rousing success. The proceeds will be going towards adding safety nets around “Red” Wilson Field and providing support for D-Y High School student-athletes.
