Golf tournament benefitting school scholarships to be held Aug. 26

By Bill Doyle | CFP Correspondent

The Bishop George Rueger Memorial Adopt-A-Student Golf Tournament will be held at Wachusett Country Club in West Boylston on Aug. 26.

The tournament raises scholarship money to help students attend St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School and St. Peter Central Catholic Elementary School and to say that the tournament has been a success would be an understatement.

The tournament has paid for more than 1,300 scholarships worth more than $4.3 million for the Adopt-A-Student program, which began in 1988.

The golf tournament was the leading fundraiser last year for Adopt-A-Student, raising $52,000, slightly more than the recognition dinner held at St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School which raised $46,000. Other contributions totaled $57,000. Total revenue in 2023 for Adopt-A-Student, including $16,000 in interest, was $171,000.

The pandemic halted fundraisers for three years so Adopt-A-Student asked for donations during that time, but the golf tournament and gala have resumed.

During the 2023-24 school year, scholarships worth a total of $86,877 were awarded to 10 students at St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School and five at St. Peter Central Catholic Elementary School. For the 2024-2025 school year, scholarships worth a total of $125,000 will be awarded to 12 students at St. Paul and eight at St. Peter Central Catholic.

“Without the two fundraising events,” Susan Saucier said, “there would be no scholarships.”
Ms. Saucier is the director of student financial services for the diocese and the chair of the Adopt-A-Student selection committee.

Other scholarship aid in addition to the Adopt-A-Student program is available to students.
The golf tournament will have a 10 a.m. shotgun start and is followed by an awards dinner.
Adopt-A-Student must pay for 110 or so golfers to play even if that many people don’t tee off. Cost to play is $175 per person.

David Perda, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Worcester, said sponsorships account for the bulk of the money raised by the golf tournament. Sponsorships are available in seven categories ranging from hole sponsors for $500 each up to presenting sponsors for $10,000 each.

Local Catholic colleges are among those who donate to the tournament.

Adopt-A-Student recipients have attended such colleges as Anna Maria, Assumption, Boston College, Clark, Cornell, Holy Cross, Nichols, Princeton, Seton Hall, the University of Massachusetts and the University of New Hampshire.

Superintendent Perda realizes that St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School and St. Peter Central Catholic each has its own benefit golf tournament, but he believes strongly in the Adopt-A-Student golf event.

“It is a fun day, absolutely,” Superintendent Perda said, “and everyone there cares about Catholic education.

“We’ve got a lot of longtime supporters, which is really good because we need the money, and it’s nice that we’re able to gather as a community through both the gala and the golf tournament, to have that camaraderie and to further develop the relationships that we already have. So it’s a great event.”

Perda doesn’t play in the golf tournament, but he attends every year along with Bishop McManus.

Bishop Rueger, who died at age 89 in 2019, didn’t play in the tournament, but Bishop Daniel Reilly, who died in June at age 96, often did.

Father Derek Mobilio, associate pastor at Our Lady of Hope Parish in Grafton and a member of the Adopt-A-Student golf committee, plans to play in the golf tournament with three fellow former golf high school captains. He captained the St. Peter-Marian golf team before graduating in 2008. Nathaniel Beland graduated from St. Paul in 2023 and Christopher Palermo and Robert Reynolds graduated from St. Paul this year.

“It takes money to send kids to Catholic schools, that’s obvious,” Father Mobilio said, “and we want to bestow this gift of not just an education, but the gift of knowing Christ to students. That’s the purpose of a Catholic school. That’s the sign in every Catholic school: ‘The reason for this school is Christ.’”

Father Mobilio’s former golf captain foursome finished second in the St. Paul Dioceason Junior-Senior High School Golf Tournament at Shining Rock GC in Northbridge on June 27.
Father Mobilio is an avid golfer with a handicap of 3.8 and he appreciates the importance of the Bishop Rueger golf tournament.

“It’s an enormous sacrifice to pay tuition,” Father Mobilio said. “So whatever we can do to introduce Christ to young people and to families, and for their parents to do as well, that’s worth every penny.”

Bob Kenney, 81, of Rutland has been involved with the golf tournament since the beginning. He used to play in and help sponsor the tournament and now serves on the golf committee.

“I was involved with the golf tournament by sponsoring it, but I felt that wasn’t enough,” Mr. Kenney said. “I wanted to help out more so I joined the steering committee. The golf tournament, we just wanted to keep expanding the amount of money we raised. The more money we raised at the tournament, the more scholarships we could provide.”

Mr. Kenney no longer plays in the event, but he plans to attend and ride around the course in a cart.

Students sometimes volunteer to help out at the golf tournament. Their presence reminds the golfers why they’re playing.

– To register to play or sponsor, visit adopt-a-student.net/golf-tournament.