June 09, 2004
Clarion golfer wins third straight Collegiate Shootout
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Matt Guyton of Clarion University of Pennsylvania dropped a short birdie putt on the second playoff hole to win his third straight Collegiate Shootout during the annual Burgess-McCormac Golf Tournament held at the Hershey Golf Club.
Guyton and Scott Micklewright of Millersville University of Pennsylvania both shot a one-under round of 70 on the Hershey East Course to set up the sudden death playoff, the third in the last five years of the annual event. Eric Anderson of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Nathan Fry of West Chester University of Pennsylvania each shot 75 to tie for third.
Ten student golfers from nine Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) universities and Pennsylvania State University competed in the 19th Collegiate Shootout, which serves as a prelude to the annual charity golf outing.
Guyton, a junior from Franklin, set a Collegiate Shootout record in 2002, firing a two-under 69 on the East Course to win the event by four strokes. He won his second title last year, shooting a 74 over 18 holes, most of which were played in a light to steady rain. With his third win this year, Guyton becomes the event’s first three-time winner and could come back next year to try to make it four for four.
Clarion University will receive a $3,000 scholarship for Guyton’s win and Millersville University will receive $2,000 for Micklewright’s runner-up finish. Micklewright of Harrisburg also is a junior. IUP and West Chester each will receive $1,000 for their general scholarship funds for the third-place finishes of Anderson, a sophomore from White Oak, and Fry, a junior from Nazareth. The scholarships are awarded by the Burgess-McCormac Memorial Foundation, which sponsors the annual event.
The other student golfers who participated in this year’s Collegiate Shootout are:
Stephen Hughes (91) of Collegeville, a senior at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania; Lauren Lundy (77) of Merion, a junior at Pennsylvania State University; Michael Paukovits (76) of Nazareth, a senior at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania; Scot Rorabaugh (81) of Edinboro, a senior at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania; Josh Smith (82) of Lock Haven, a junior at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania; and Matt Walsh (76) of Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.
Student golfers from each of the 14 PASSHE universities and the four state-related universities are invited to play in the Collegiate Shootout each year. Participants play one 18-hole round, competing under NCAA rules.
The Burgess-McCormac charity golf event has been held each year since 1983. Since its inception, the event has raised more than $1 million for various charitable organizations, including the American Heart Association, Ronald McDonald House in Hershey, Jerry Sandusky’s “Second Mile” program and the Lehigh Valley Hospital Burn Unit.
The annual outing began as a memorial to Bob Burgess, a government relations specialist for Beneficial Financial Management. He and a daughter, Pamela, died in an automobile accident in 1983. The event was renamed in 2002 to also memorialize Thomas McCormac, a government relations specialist with Pugliese Associates and former chief of staff for now state House Speaker John Perzel. McCormac died in an automobile accident in 2001.
In addition to the three scholarships for which the student golfers compete, The Burgess-McCormac Memorial Foundation, which operates the event, also contributes a separate $3,000 scholarship each year to Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where Pamela Burgess had been a student.
With more than 104,000 students, PASSHE is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study.
Nearly 400,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania. The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers.