Golf Tournament Helps Keep Fifth-Year Student Althletes in School

Sep. 16, 2009

Jack Karnes Memorial Golf Tournament is held Oct. 2

FLORENCE, Ala. – The Friday before the University of North Alabama’s Homecoming football game will be filled with local golfers teeing off and then arguing about their swings. But at the end of the day, UNA student-athletes will be the ones who benefit.

The university’s Jack Karnes Memorial Golf Tournament will be held Oct 2 at the Florence Golf and Country Club.

The annual Homecoming week event is named in honor of UNA student-athlete and golf team member Jack Karnes. Karnes was killed in a car accident on his way home from a golf tournament.

The tournament raises money for the UNA athletic program, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the fifth-year athlete scholarship endowment. If a player uses up their eligibility and is within 30 hours of graduating, this scholarship is available to them. The scholarship helps ensure that scholarship athletes who have lost their eligibility are able to finish their degrees.

UNA alumnus and tournament coordinator Tuffy Hudson believes the fifth-year scholarship is essential in ensuring some athletes finish their degrees.

“One of my main objectives is to help those guys [ineligible athletes] get that degree,” Hudson said. “If you miss even one semester, it can be hard to get back in school, and this tournament provides some ‘greenbacks’ for the scholarship.”

The tournament is a four-man scramble. Hudson expects to have 20 teams at the 8 a.m. tee time and 20 teams at the 1 p.m. tee time.

Individuals play for $100 each, and teams of four are $400.

To register for the Jack Karnes Memorial Golf Tournament, go to alumni.una.edu or contact Hudson at 256-766-8423.