Chippin' In for Student Scholarships

Arizona and golf are virtually synonymous, what with the paucity of troubling things such as snowstorms, rain, high winds, or indeed anything other than bright sunshine around here. People in Arizona love the game of golf, from kids who take up the sport at miniature golf parks to high-schoolers who join their school golf teams to celebrities who escape here for the weather to retirees whose primary mode of transportation is their golf cart.

I am a casual golfer myself. I've taken lessons, and I bought the clubs. The amount of money I have spent on lost golf balls could probably subsidize a small third-world country for a couple of years. But my incompetence at the game aside, I enjoy spending a sun-drenched day on the links, gleefully swatting at that little white ball and letting life slow down and relax for a while.

If you ask me, the only thing that would make paying for a round of golf better is if by doing so you could improve someone's life by doing so. That's where Midwestern University's Chippin' In for Students 2011 Golf Classic on March 21^st comes in.

The Chippin' In for Students tournament does something great for golf - it makes the game itself more fun via all sorts of fun activities, including contests for the Longest Drive, Closest to the Pin, and Putting, and it assures the participants that the money they are paying to play goes to an exceptionally worthy cause, which is the education of future healthcare providers.

You can find out more about the Chippin' In for Students 2011 Golf Classic by visiting http://www.midwestern.edu/azgolf. You can attend as a golfer (registration starts at $160 for a single player, with $60 of that fee being tax-deductible), pony up sponsorship money, buy a ticket to the end-of-tournament dinner, or even just contribute to the Student Scholarship Fund.

This year's tournament already has an impressive list of supporters, and I think I would be remiss if I didn't list some of the more significant ones here:

•· Chanen Construction

•· TriWest Healthcare Alliance

•· Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona

•· DWL Architects + Planners

•· Wells Fargo

•· AZ Pain Centers

•· Abrazo Health Care

•· City of Glendale

•· Delta Dental of Arizona

•· IASIS Healthcare

•· RBC Capital Markets

Thank you to those who have stepped up - and those who are going to (you know who you are!) but haven't yet! We'll all have a great time out there on the fairways.