Teeing It Up for the Seminarians

Desert Classic golfers and sponsors fund 30-day spiritual pilgrimage.

Regardless of the weather, golfers always show up with enthusiasm to support the seminarians at the Desert Classic Golf Outing. This year, we were blessed with a beautiful Michigan late summer day. The annual fundraising event, now in its thirty-fourth year, was held on Monday, September 12, at The Inn at St. John's golf course in Plymouth, Michigan.

And show up they did, with 145 golfers in thirty-one teams enjoying a day of sunshine, fellowship, and breaking bread together, all to help fund the Desert Formation Experience.

Every spring, first-year graduate seminarians make the DFE pilgrimage, visiting the sacred sites of the Holy Land. Scripture comes alive as the men witness firsthand the places Jesus taught, suffered, and died while seeking his guidance on their journey toward the priesthood. The thirty-day pilgrimage concludes with a side-visit to the city of Rome that includes a Wednesday audience with the Holy Father. (Make the journey yourself by following the seminarian's 2016 pilgrimage in images and prose at desertformation.org.)

Desert Classic golfers begin the day by digging into a continental breakfast served an hour before the 11:00 tee-time. A hearty box lunch keeps the energy up as the teams shank and slice their way through eighteen holes of the gorgeous Inn at St. John's golf course.

An awards dinnerwhich opens with a brag-about-your-score cocktail hourawaits the golfers after the eighteenth hole. Held in the beautiful St. John's ballroom, the dinner includes a fishbowl raffle, prizes awarded for accuracy shots, and trophies for the teams that finish in the first three spots. Deacon Jared Holzhuter and Perrin Atisha were the seminarian golf captains this year, with Perrin giving a moving testimony at the dinner about the spiritual highlights of his Desert Formation Experience.

Team members Dr. William Grace, Zenon Grace, Ron Grace, and Colten Christensen won the first-place trophy this year. Other prize winners were Rod Ratowski (50/50 drawing), Dan Sutherland (closest to the pin), and Dr. Mark Murphy (accuracy shot).

Much gratitude goes out to these 2016 Desert Classic sponsors: Title Sponsor: St. Catherine of Siena Academy in Wixom through the generosity of a mutual friend of Sacred Heart Major Seminary. Event Sponsor: Knights of Columbus, Michigan State Council. Breakfast Sponsors: Emmet and Marilyn Tracy, Jr., and The Webber Group. Lunch Sponsors: CFCS, a ministry of the Archdiocese of Detroit, and Wallcovering Plus; Reception Sponsors: Guardian Angels Catholic Community, and Bishop Foley Catholic High School; Dinner Sponsors: Bodman PLC, James and Patricia Melluish, Urban Hubert, and Weingartz.

Why not form a team now and be a part of the Desert Classic in support of Sacred Heart's seminarians? Consider being a sponsor of the Desert Classic and be recognized prominently as a champion of the seminarians. Sponsors are acknowledged in the program, and through e-newsletters like this one that go out to thousands of addresses. The thirty-fifth Desert Golf Classic will be held on Monday, September 18, 2017, once again at the beautiful Inn at St. John's Golf and Conference Center, in Plymouth, Michigan.

Just contact Emily Berschback, Sacred Heart's event manager, at 313-596-7424 or berschback.emily@shms.edu for more information or visit our website desertgolfclassic.com to view photo and video highlights of the event.