20th Anniversary Golf Classic Continues to Benefit Youth and Education

For 20 years the CIRI Golf Classic has been raising money to benefit youth and education. First grossing $2,600 in 1985, today the CIRI Golf Classic nets more than $100,000 annually and, as of this year, has raised and contributed more than $1.2 million for youth and education. What started out as a tournament of oil industry colleagues, and passed from the hands of Peak Oilfield Service Company to CIRI, has become one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in Alaska.

As a long-time supporter of youth and education, CIRI President & CEO Carl Marrs has been instrumental in the development and success of this important annual fundraising event.

“The future of our people depends on our ability to build a strong foundation for today’s youth,” said Marrs. “The proceeds of the CIRI Golf Classic have, for many years, provided great educational opportunities to bright and talented young people, and I’m proud to have played a role in that. I have faith that the benefits of this tournament and the foundation it has laid for the betterment of individual lives will be evident for generations to come.”
For the first 18 years of the tournament, the money raised supported The CIRI Foundation, which awards scholarships and grants to CIRI shareholders and their lineal descendants and supports other cultural endeavors. When the Foundation reached its endowment goal, the focus of the tournament expanded to benefit other worthy programs focusing on youth and education.

This year the money raised through player fees, raffle ticket sales, junior’s and women’s golf clinics and sponsorships will be shared between the four following organizations:
Southcentral Foundation’s RAISE program provides year-round intern opportunities for youth between the ages of 14 and 19. The interns offer free tutoring and classroom activities for children in kindergarten through fifth grade following a “youth-tutoring-youth” model. The Cross-Age Tutoring program benefits the younger students by improving academic performance and encouraging learning during the summer. The older interns gain work experience skills and build self-esteem while acting as role models.

Salamatof Tribal Council’s Tutors in the Schools Program: Low test scores and school district budget cuts motivated Salamatof Tribal Council to support the Alaska Native children in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. In the spirit of “it takes a village to raise a child” philosophy, the Council placed tutors in the Head Start program, as well as elementary and middle schools, to increase academic performance. The program also provides case management and, in some cases, financial support to families.

Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s Junior Native Youth Olympics is an athletic competition comprised of nine events based on games that generations of Alaska Natives played as a way to test their hunting and survival skills. An invaluable teaching tool for elementary students, Junior Native Youth Olympics is a way for young Alaska Natives to reconnect with their culture and experience their ancestors’ way of life.

Anchorage School District’s Indian Education Summer Enrichment Opportunity: The Summer Enrichment Program provides an opportunity for Alaska Native and Native American elementary students to strengthen their reading skills and to participate in cultural activities in a positive, structured and fun learning environment.

Approximately 152 players participated in the tournament this year, on teams of four that were coordinated by the tournament director Dawn Dinwoodie, based on player handicaps. This 20th anniversary tournament marks Dinwoodie’s sixth and final year as tournament director. During Dinwoodie’s first two years as director, the tournament’s proceeds more than tripled and under her direction the event has raised on average $130,000 per year.

This year CIRI partnered with The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona, to bring DJ Flanders, director of golf for the Kierland Golf Club, to Anchorage to conduct both a junior and women’s golf clinic at Moose Run Golf Course prior to the tournament. The clinics offered additional fundraising opportunities as well as a chance for youth from the recipient organizations to come together with the children of the tournament players and learn more about the game of golf. The Junior Clinic was sponsored by Peak Oilfield Service Company.

Prior to The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, a CIRI investment, Flanders worked at The La Cantera Golf Club, a Golf Magazine “Top 100 You Can Play” facility and home of The Westin Texas Open, a PGA Tour event now known as the Valero Texas Open. In Phoenix, he is the host of a local radio program, “The Bunker to Bunker Golf Show,” aired on ESPN radio and the number one golf show in Arizona.  This program is the official radio voice of Arizona’s PGA and LPGA Tour events.  Regular guests include Hale Irwin, Jack Nicklaus, Tony Jacklin, Kirk Triplett, Phil Mickelson, Grace Park, Billy Mayfair along with other sports personalities such as Charles Barkley, Emmitt Smith, Mark Mulder, Wayne Gretsky, Mark Grace and Bob Uecker just to name a few. 

Participants Ron Perry and David Strickland.

DJ Flanders, Director of Golf for the Kierland Golf Club, instructs a Women’s Golf Clinic on behalf of CIRI for the special 20th anniversary tournament.