Bowtie Classic 2014
About 90 golfers came together to benefit La Crosse public schools at the second Charlie Miller Bowtie Classic Golf Outing and Knowledge Open, held Aug. 30, 2014, at Forest Hills Golf Course. (For a photo gallery, click here.)
The event is a major fundraiser for the La Crosse Public Education Foundation and also honors the late Dr. Charles Miller III, a foundation co-founder and a longtime member of the Board of Education for the School District of La Crosse. Dr. Miller was a surgeon at what is now Gundersen Health System. He died unexpectedly while playing racquetball in May 2011.
With the generous support of sponsors, including the family of Dr. Miller, the event helps support the overall work of the foundation as well as generate $1,000 in prize money for immediate grants to La Crosse schools represented at the outing.
Teams compete not just on golf skills in the scramble format. The event includes a unique feature: the Knowledge Open Challenge. At various holes on the course, questions are asked by National Honor Society students. Each event foursome, as a team, answers the questions during its round of play. Teams’ final scores are based on their golf game as well as their performance on the quiz.
In the video above, Joe Grosskreutz, a senior at La Crosse Central High School, poses a Knowledge Open trivia question at Hole No. 18 as part of the Charlie Miller Bowtie Classic. Providing a correct answer was Saul Siegman, part of the team involving Jarena Everson, Fred Everson and Jeanette Everson, daughter of the late Dr. Charles Miller III, namesake of the golf outing.
Here are details on the winning teams:
1st Place – Marine Credit Union team Curt Greeno, Aaron Sharar and Adam Keer.
Winning $500 for the Hamilton Early Learning Center was a three-man team from Marine Credit Union: Adam Keer, Curt Greeno and Aaron Sharar. The team’s final 18-hole score was 49 after subtracting 12 points for correct answers to questions in the Knowledge Open.
2nd place – Brad and Ben Fowler, Jim Ringstrom and Tom Londergan
Second place – winning $250 for Longfellow Middle School – was the team of Brad Fowler, Ben Fowler, Jim Ringstrom and Tom Londergan. The team score also was 49 after subtracting 8 points for correct answers. (The tie-breaker was based on which team correctly answered the most questions.)
3rd place – Phil Gredler, Dirk Hunter, Bill Hoel and Phil Curti
Third place, with a score of 51 (after 10 correct answers), went to the team of Dirk Hunter, Phil Curti, Phil Gredler and Bill Hoel. The team won $125 for Summit Elementary, where Hunter is principal.
Jeanette Everson, Saul Siegman, Jarena Everson, Fred Everson, Esther Everson, Susan Miller and Daniel Everson
Last place, for the highest 18-hole score, went to a team representing the family of Dr. Miller. The team included his daughter, Jeanette Everson, Fred Everson, Jarena Everson and Saul Siegman. They were assisted by two other grandchildren, Daniel and Esther Everson — and were cheered on by Susan Miller, wife of the late Dr. Miller. For last place, the team won $125 for Lincoln Middle School/SOTA II.
Susan Miller takes a stroke for her daughter on the approach to the 18th green, with Granddad’s Bluff in the background.
Major sponsors were: Festival Foods; Marine Credit Union; Mathy Construction; and Gundersen Health System.
Other key sponsors included: Susan Miller and the family of Dr. Charles Miller III; Bray Architects; Fowler & Hammer; and Tom and Judy Sleik.
Added hole sponsors were: 3PAdministrators; Brickl Bros.; Coulee Bank; DeBoer Pest Control; JFK Associates; La Crosse Area Retired Educators; Thompson Animal Medical Center; TCI Architects; Ann and Brad Fowler; Ken French; Jerry and Nan Kember; Robert McMahon; Jeff Meyer; Randy and Lynn Nelson; Roland and Janeane Solberg; and Dick and Judy Swantz.
Raffle prizes were provided by: Travel Leaders; First Student bus company; Roger LeGrand; and Fred Kusch.
Hole-in-one prize support was provided by Pischke Motors.
Hole prizes were provided by: Forest Hills Golf Course; Tom Sawyer’s Bar & Grill; 4 Sisters Wine Bar & Tapas; Edwardo’s Ristorante di Pizza; and Buffalo Wild Wings.
See a complete photo gallery of all the teams, plus other images from the 2014 Bowtie Classic.