Luncheon offers golfers chance to meet legend, support future
Area golfers can meet a master golfer and help support the new University of Houston-Victoria golf program at a luncheon on Wednesday.
Homero Blancas, former pro-golfer and the only recorded person to ever score 55, will talk to the crowd as part of the event from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the UHV University Center, 3007 N. Ben Wilson St. The event is free to the public, but reservations are requested.
On Aug. 19, 1962, Blancas shot the lowest known score in competitive golf on a par 70 course in Longview. He has since been known as “Mr. 55.” Blancas has won four Professional Golf Association Tour events and had more than 14 top-10 finishes. He has scored 18 holes-in-one during his career and is a member of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame and the University of Houston Athletics Hall of Fame.
Attendees also will have the chance to support the next chapter in the history of golf in Victoria by donating or pledging dollars for golf scholarships.
“Scholarships are critical in our efforts to recruit the college athletes who will be a part of the first UHV men’s and women’s golf teams,” UHV Athletics Director Ashley Walyuchow said. “I hope everyone who comes can learn something from a legend and help support the next generation of great golfers.”
Motivational speaker and businessman Bill Bevill of Corpus Christi also will be on hand to discuss the importance of giving back to one’s home community.
“When you support UHV Athletics, you are actually going to get to see where your money goes, see the program grow and have an opportunity to interact with and follow your scholarship winner,” said Claud Jacobs, a major supporter of UHV Athletics and a Victoria businessman.
The UHV Athletics Department will hold similar events every year to let scholarship donors meet and be involved with the students helped by their generosity, Walyuchow said.
The UHV men’s and women’s golf teams will tee off in the fall of 2010 alongside the new men’s and women’s soccer teams. UHV also will add freshmen and sophomores at that time.
The admission of underclassmen, and the offering of freshman- and sophomore-level classes, is pending approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities, the same organization that accredits most major universities in Texas.
“This community amazed the entire college athletics community with its support of our softball and baseball teams,” Walyuchow said. “I can’t wait to see it happen all over again.”
To make a reservation for the luncheon, call 361-570-4345 by the end of the day on Monday.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
