Matt Walsh of Malvern, a junior at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, won the Edward P. Zemprelli Collegiate Shootout held Wednesday at the Hershey Golf Club.

Walsh, competing in the event for the second time, defeated Eric Anderson of White Oak, a junior from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. Both shot an initial round of 72 on the Hershey Golf Club’s East Course.

Finishing two shots back were Lou Jesiolkiewic of Pittsburgh, a senior at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, and Eric Shaffer of Conneautville, a sophomore at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.

Twelve student golfers representing 11 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities and Pennsylvania State University participated in the 20^th annual shootout, which is held each year as a prelude to the Bob Burgess-Thomas McCormac charity golf outing.

Walsh won a $3,000 scholarship for Slippery Rock University’s general scholarship fund. Anderson took home a $2,000 scholarship for his school and Jesiolkiewic and Shaffer each earned $1,000 scholarships for their universities. The scholarships are awarded by the Burgess-McCormac Foundation, which operates the annual event.

Also competing in the shootout this year were Todd Brown of Carlisle, a sophomore at West Chester University of Pennsylvania; Corey Gast of Lancaster, a freshman at Millersville University of Pennsylvania; Casey Geyer of New Cumberland, a senior at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania; Anthony Lent, a freshman at California University of Pennsylvania; Trey M. Mallicone of Uniontown, a freshman at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania; Christin Pacacha of Williamsport, a freshman at Penn State; Josh Smith of Lock Haven, a senior at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania; and Holly Shubilla of Wilkes-Barre, a sophomore at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

The Burgess-McCormac charity golf outing has been held each year since 1985. Since its inception, the event has raised more than $1 million for various charitable organizations. This year’s event benefited Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) research and the Penn State Medical Center Children’s Hospital project.

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 Foundation also contributes a separate $3,000 scholarship each year to Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where Pamela Burgess had been a student.

With nearly 106,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. The 14 PASSHE universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 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, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.