Crout Classic raises funds for good cause
Luke Jones and Brett Phillips roll the dice at one of the holes during the Crout Classic Golf Tournament in Blanchard. (Photo by Jacob Sturm)
Jay Mauldin enters a free raffle drawing next to a tee shot at Winter Creek Golf and Country Club. (Photo by Jacob Sturm)
Jaeden Musae, Paulette Statler and Rayne Glasco have fun on a golf cart next to the Duck Pond hole made to raise funds for the Mustang Chamber scholarships. (Photo by Jacob Sturm)
By Jacob Sturm
[email protected]
Mustang area businesses were represented well out in Blanchard for the Crout Classic Golf
Tournament held Aug. 5 to help raise funds for scholarships the Chamber of Commerce
provides MPS students annually.
The event, which drew at least 25 teams to Winter Creek Golf and Country Club, is the 22 nd
annual occurrence. It also helps Mustang Chamber leadership and businesses to better know
each other outside of the offices while they raise funds for the good cause.
Renee Peerman, the CEO of the Mustang Chamber of Commerce, shared her thoughts on the
impacts the event has on the local community members who participate.
“It’s a fun thing for them to do for sure,” Peerman said. “It’s a team-building thing for them…
The important thing that we do here is raise money for the scholarships.”
The tournament, at the beginning, started as the Summer Classic and eventually was renamed
after Robert Crout following his passing. Crout had been the Board Chairman and had been a
major proponent for every chamber affiliated golf tournament.
The Chamber also used to do a Fall golf tournament on top of a separate tournament, but
Peerman said they were combined into the current tournament in Blanchard. Other organized
events also contribute to the same causes through the chamber.
“They just all contribute to our chamber budget, which helps support workforce development
and business retention in Mustang,” Peerman said.
Peerman mentioned Winter Creek Golf and Country Club as a place that works well with the
Mustang community, and has helped participation in the event jump up.
That included at least one new team this year.
“We had 25 teams today, and we have about 20 volunteers out there on the course, too,”
Peerman said. “The Mustang High School Golf Team sent a lot of volunteers as well. So, we’ve
got the high school participating… It’s a whole community thing.”
As part of the fun, participants had a variety of activities to spice up the golf course. That
included a dice roll to determine what tee each team hit from, a free raffle entry followed by a
relay-style hole for the teams of four to alternate through, and a duck pond where lucky
participants drew a low number to count on their scorecard for one hole on the course with a
$20 fee.
Interested teams planning to assemble for future years events should note that they do not
have to be chamber members to participate.
