First Annual Bronco Polo Golf Tournament Brings in Over $36,000

Posted: Jun 04, 2012

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - With an eye towards raising money for the program, Santa Clara men's water polo hosted its first-ever Bronco Polo Golf Tournament at Silver Creek Valley Country Club in San Jose, Calif. on May 21. The event was put together by Scott Pritchett, father of red-shirt freshman goalie Matt Pritchett and chair of the tournament, Bronco head coach Keith Wilbur and Associate Athletic Director Fred Smith.

"For our inaugural golf tournament, I think it went extremely well," said Wilbur. "We have a great support group and I believe we added more to that group during this event. Everybody involved with Santa Clara water polo really enjoys each other's company and this is a great event to get all of us together during the off-season, have a good time and raise money for the men's water polo team."

The tournament had places for 32 foursomes and all 128 spots sold out. There were over 20 volunteers helping to run the event smoothly on a beautiful day for golf. There were over 25 alumni, another 20 or affiliated with the university through business relationships, more than 20 parents and friends of the current roster and 60 or so business leaders in the greater Silicon Valley area through relationships with Pritchett.

"It was a lot of fun to be able to play golf while supporting Santa Clara water polo," said senior goalkeeper Michael Wishart, who participated in the tournament. "All the seniors owe a lot to Coach Wilbur and the water polo program here at Santa Clara so it's important to give back any way we can. Even though we are graduating in a couple of weeks, we want to stay a part of the program and this was a great opportunity to do that."

In addition to the golfing, there was a dinner that featured live and silent auctions to help raise money.

"On top of great weather, fun atmosphere and great energy in the crowd, we also had a hugely successful silent and live auction during the banquet dinner," said Pritchett. "I have had numerous follow up emails and calls within less than 24 hours later stating how much people enjoyed themselves at our Inaugural Bronco Polo Golf Invitational."

"Mitch Juricich from Hooked on Golf, did a great job emceeing the live auction and raffle prizes," added Wilbur.

The tournament raised over $36,000 with the help of the 38 sponsors and generous guests taking part in the auctions.

After such a successful inaugural tournament, everyone is already looking forward to next years' tournament.

"I received a lot of positive feedback from the alumni who attended this year, and one thing we would like to do is grow the number of alumni who come in future years," said Wilbur. "One of our goals is to make this an annual fund raising event that also serves as a reunion for all of our alumni along with their families, friends and everybody that supports Santa Clara water polo."

"We are fully committed to continue this annual Bronco Polo Golf Invitational every May on the 3rd Monday of the month just prior to Memorial Weekend," added Pritchett. "We want to capitalize on the overwhelming positive response from our tournament golfing guests and line up our event's marketing materials in time for the 2012 Men's Water Polo season to capture early registration and sponsorship support in the fall of 2012. I couldn't be more proud of how we represented both the University and the Men's Water Polo program at this event."