The PGA Golf Management Program proved to be up to par in the Pros Fore Clothes Foundation 2022-2023 Golden Hanger Challenge, winning the competition in their very first year participating.
Led by then-students Zachary Richmond and Alfonso Rivera, who have since graduated, the program and its students collected 47 bags of clothes at over 722 pounds. They broadcast the drive to fellow College of Business students and collected weekly before conducting a weigh-in of the donations. Following the challenge, the students donated the collection to the local Springs Rescue Mission.
The Golden Hanger Challenge is an annual clothing drive organized by the Pros Fore Clothes Foundation, an organization that focuses on PGA professionals who donate their clothes when they transition from one facility to the next. Program winners are decided by highest number of pounds per undergraduate, with UCCS coming in at over thirteen pounds per student.
“The Pros Fore Clothes Foundation has an amazing goal of donating one million pounds of clothing to those in need,” said Mark Bacheldor, PGA Golf Management Program Director. “The UCCS PGA Golf Management Program is beyond proud to support and partner with this amazing foundation, to do our part to reach this goal. The cohesive efforts of our student body to collect over 700 pounds of clothing is nothing short of remarkable! We want to thank the great folks at Peter Millar for their continued collaboration with Pros Fore Clothes and the amazing individuals – Charlie Schuyler, PGA and Patrick White, PGA – at the Pros Fore Clothes Foundation.”
As acknowledgement of their victory, the program received a large Golden Hanger trophy to display on campus for the year along with a smaller version to keep at UCCS permanently. The larger trophy may even remain for another year, as the program has already collected over 500 pounds of clothing for the 2023-2024 challenge. The winning program also receives an all-expenses paid VIP visit for two program members to the Peter Millar Headquarters in Raleigh, NC, with UCCS alumnus Zachary Richmond and current student Carson Wiesner chosen as the recipients.