Power of Influence 2006 Golf Outing

The First American Football Coaches Foundation Golf Outing was held July 17, 2006 at Hillcrest Country Club in Long Grove, Ill. The event raised more than $75,000 for the AFCF and the American Football Coaches Association.

The event was such a success that it will become an annual part of the Chicagoland golf scene. The outing has been renamed the Randy Walker Power of Influence Golf Outing in memory of the late Northwestern coach who passed away suddenly in June 2006, just a few weeks before last year's event, one which Walker was heavily involved in planning.

The 2006 outing teed off at 10 a.m. on July 17 with 120 golfers participating in a shotgun-start scramble format. Every participant wore a purple wristband in honor of Northwestern's Walker.

There were no winners singled out from the outing, but there were a couple of games that golfers could compete in on the course. One game involved a golf bag being set up on the first tee, and every golfer having to place a new golf ball in the bag. At the end of play, raffle tickets were sold and the winner got a new golf bag with 120 new golf balls.

After play was over, the participants and volunteers were treated to a buffet reception. The highlight of the evening was a silent auction were various autographed footballs, golf equipment, tickets to a Chicago Bears football game, a foursome for a day at a local country club, and various other prizes were bid on and purchased during the event. Participants also bought raffle tickets to win a set of Wilson irons, two tickets to the PGA Championship, VIP suite for 10 at a Chicago Rush football game, two one-year memberships to Bally Total Fitness and an outdoor deck and patio heater.

The Power of Influence Golf Outing raised in excess of $75,000. The money was raised from the silent and live auctions, hole sponsorships and golf outing sponsors. Some of the major sponsors of the outing were FieldTurf, NCAA, NFL, New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, and Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League, to name a few.

With the success of this year's event, two golf outings are planned for 2007. The Walker Memorial Outing will be held on July 23, 2007 at INSERT NAME OF COURSE HERE. The second outing is being planned for the Dallas area and will take place in September 2007.

"Everybody who worked to get the golf outing running, including the participants, had a great time," Committee Chairman and Foundation Board Member Dennis Grapenthin said. "Some of the participants said this was the best golf outing they had ever attended. The food was excellent, the weather was good and the golf was good. It was the first golf outing to raise money for The Foundation and next year will be even better."

The Golf Outing Committee started meeting at the end of January, and met every two weeks up until the time of the golf outing. The committee met at various locations, and they would discuss a list of invitees who would play and solicitation of sponsorships, gifts and prizes for the outing. Each person on the committee had a list of assignments to achieve and the committee would update those assignments and make sure the objectives were being met.

The committee shopped all over the nation for the right golf course that would fit the economic model they had set up. Hillcrest Country Club in Long Grove, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, best fit the committee's objectives. Also, a date of July 17, 2006, was set for the golf outing.

Now with the date and course selected, the committee began finalizing the list of players and sponsorships. The committee invited champion high school football coaches from the Chicago area to play in the outing, as well as local college coaches.

After a few words were spoken by Grant Teaff, Dennis Grapenthin and Hillcrest Country Club general manager, Michael Krabbe, the golf outing started at 10 a.m. on July 17, with 120 golfers participating. It was a shotgun start with six-man teams at each hole. The golf outing was played with heavy hearts with the sudden death of Northwestern University head football coach, Randy Walker, who passed away on June 29. Walker was a member of the Golf Outing Committee who was a big part of getting the outing running. Every participant wore a purple wristband in honor of Walker.

There were no winners singled out from the outing, but there were a couple of games that competitors could compete in during play. One game involved a golf bag being set up on the first tee, and every golfer having to place a new golf ball in the bag. At the end of play, raffle tickets were sold and the winner got a new golf bag with 120 new golf balls.

After play was over, the participants and volunteers were treated to a buffet reception. The highlight of the evening was a silent auction were various autographed footballs, golf equipment, tickets to a Chicago Bears football game, a four-some for a day at a local country club, and various other prizes were bid on and purchased during the event. Participants also bought raffle tickets to win a set of Wilson irons, two tickets to the PGA Championship, VIP suite for 10 at a Chicago Rush football game, two one-year memberships to Bally Total Fitness and an outdoor deck and patio heater.

The Power of Influence Golf Outing raised in excess of $75,000. The money was raised from the silent and live auctions, hole sponsorships and golf outing sponsors. Some of the major sponsors of the outing were FieldTurf, NCAA, NFL, New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, and Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League, to name a few.

With the success of this year's event, two golf outings are planned for next year. Members of the committee also voted to rename the Power of Influence Golf Outing to, "The Randy Walker Power of Influence Golf Outing," in honor of the former coach.

"Everybody who worked to get the golf outing running, including the participants, had a great time," Dennis Grapenthin said. "Some of the participants said this was the best golf outing they had ever attended. The food was excellent, the weather was good and the golf was good. It was the first golf outing to raise money for The Foundation and next year will be even better."

Committee

Golf Outing Committee was formed to outline goals and run the golf outing. Grapenthin was named chairman, and the other 26 members included: Grant Teaff, Executive Director, AFCA; Trace Armstrong, former NFL Player and president of the NFL Players Association; John Behling, Director of Marketing, Red Bull; Darren Benson, Chief Operating Officer, Buedel Foods; John Bostrom, Senior Director of Administration, Chicago Bears; Larry Carls, National Safety Council; Lloyd Carr, University of Michigan; Tom Crawford, Director, Corporate Sponsorships/Sports Marketing, Motorola; Mickey Donahue, Donahue and Smith; Ted Hendricks, NFL Hall of Fame player; Skip Horween, President, Horween Leather Co.; Jason Keith, Assistant Vice President of Marketing, LaSalle Bank; Michael Krabbe, General Manager, Hillcrest Country Club; Brian McCaskey, Chicago Bears; Scott Paddock, Senior Manager, Gatorade; Mike Polisky, President/General Manager, Chicago Rush; Dennis Poppe, NCAA; Bill Sanders, Chicago Furnace; Jeff Serneck, Director, Scoutware; Bob Shanahan, President, Palatine Bank & Trust; R.C. Slocum, AFCF President; Mike Taylor, Donahue and Smith; Joe Vrankan, CFO, Arena Football League; Randy Walker, Northwestern University; Gene Washington, Director of Football Operations, NFL; and Tyrone Willingham, University of Washington.

“Coach George Smith is not only an influence on young people, but the influence is multiplied many times in the beliefs of the young people he helped mold into amazing human beings. George is an outstanding coach, but more importantly, he is an outstanding gentleman.” —Tina Jones, Principal of St. Thomas Aquinas High School