Indiana University (IU) Northwest hosted its first RedHawk Golf Classic at Innsbrook Country Club on June 3 to engage with the community and boost financial support for IU Northwest athletics. Attendees golfed as individuals or foursomes competing in the shotgun-style golf outing all while directly benefiting student-athletes, with 100% of the proceeds contributing to IU Northwest RedHawks Athletic Scholarships.
The donor support from the RedHawk Golf Classic enables the university to supply scholarships, equipment, facilities, and more for its student-athletes to help them thrive throughout their college and athletic careers.
“We want to continue to grow athletics by being competitively sustainable and offering the best student-athlete experience we can,” said IU Northwest Director of Athletics Ryan Shelton. “Student-athletes are extremely busy: they're full-time students, most of them have part-time jobs, and being a student-athlete is also a full-time job in terms of the commitment to their teams, training, and travel. We want to lighten the burden of having to work more than they need to so they can prioritize this experience which comes along once in a lifetime.”
The proceeds from the RedHawk Golf Classic will help IU Northwest continue to offer competitive recruitment incentives, leading current student-athletes to feel well-equipped and confident and encouraging future student-athletes to consider enrolling at IU Northwest.
“These funds will help us recruit and retain top talent,” said IU Northwest Director of Development Ed Briscoe. “Growing this pool of scholarship dollars allows Ryan and his coaches to go out and do competitive recruitment. This elevates our position to put a real package in front of a family to say, ‘These are dollars. This is what we can do for your student’s education at IU Northwest.’ Golf outings and other events and giving campaigns that we’re looking to do will only further that recruitment initiative.”
The RedHawks have already seen success this year, such as the men’s basketball team winning the conference championship and basketball player Jessica Carrothers being named Player of the Year and breaking the school scoring record with 50 points in a single game.
“We have such talented student-athletes here that we receive national recognition and visibility across the country in terms of the exposure that athletics brings our institution based on their success,” Shelton said. “It’s a cool thing when you're seeing national stories written about your student-athletes with all-Americans, national tournament appearances, and conference championships. That's the strength of athletics and what it can do to support the university and its mission.”
The RedHawk Golf Classic not only raised funds to support IU Northwest athletics, but also provided donors the opportunity to connect directly with the student-athletes they support. Briscoe learned of the donors’ desire to meet and interact with student-athletes back when he started in late November, and he has been looking to create those opportunities ever since. This desire was realized when Shelton and Briscoe came together to plan the RedHawk Golf Classic to further these relationships and financially advance athletics.
“I want everyone to look at this as not only a fundraiser, but also a friend-raiser,” Briscoe said. “This golf outing allows us to strengthen our relationships with community partners. In the short amount of time that we've been planning this event, we've been able to cultivate strong community relationships with a number of local corporate partners and nonprofits that stepped up to the plate to demonstrate their support. I think these small touchpoints are the kinds of things that we can build on incrementally over the years.”
For additional opportunities to support IU Northwest athletics, the golf classic featured prizes for course games and raffle prizes, including the following:
- Two premium 100-level tickets for the Chicago Bears season opener
- Two pairs of Chicago White Sox club seat ticket packs
- A premium golf equipment package
- RedHawks Nike gear equipment package
- A foursome at Innsbrook Country Club
IU Northwest is grateful for Innsbrook Country Club’s hospitality in hosting the RedHawk Golf Classic and would like to thank the following event sponsors for their support of the RedHawk Golf Classic and all things IU Northwest:
- McMahon & Associates Certified Public Accountants, P.C.
- Floor Care Concepts
- Hammond Machine Works, Inc.
- Hard Rock Casino
- Commissioner Kyle Allen of Lake County
- Garry Aloia of DVG Team, Inc.
- Community Healthcare System
- Chicago White Sox
- Eclipse Charters & Tours
- Marcus Allard Truck Rental
- BMO Harris Bank
- Horizon Bank
- Wells Fargo
- Hutton & Hutton Architects & Engineers
- Tolbert & Tolbert LLC
For more information on Indiana University Athletics, visit iunredhawks.com, and for more information on Indiana University Northwest, visit northwest.iu.edu.
