Bishop McDonald golf tourney marks 20th anniversary

Proceeds fund immigrant domestic abuse program via Catholic Charities of Arkansas

Published: October 13, 2014

By Dwain Hebda
Associate Editor

Dwain Hebda

Clem Kordsmeier lines up his putt as Father John Marconi (left) and Matt Mallett look on. The threesome, along with Phil Kordsmeier, shot a 66 to win their flight via a tiebreaker.

Dwain Hebda

Clem Kordsmeier lines up his putt as Father John Marconi (left) and Matt Mallett look on. The threesome, along with Phil Kordsmeier, shot a 66 to win their flight via a tiebreaker.

MAUMELLE — Nearly 140 golfers took part in the 20th Bishop McDonald Catholic Charities Golf Classic Sept. 29 at Maumelle Country Club. Players from as far away as Illinois were on hand to raise money for Catholic Charities of Arkansas.

“It’s a beautiful day, it’s couldn’t be better,” said Catholic Charities executive director Patrick Gallaher of the event, which teed off under clear skies and mild temperatures. “Everybody is enjoying a round of golf in some lovely September weather.”

Winning teams in the morning flights included St. Bernards Healthcare of Jimmy Cooper, Kevin Hughes, Ben Overmen and Steve Tricarrico who topped Sacred Heart of Jesus #1 and Bray Sheet Metal Co. Father John Marconi’s team, which also included Clem Kordsmeier, Phil Kordsmeier and Matt Mallett of Conway, won a three-way tiebreaker with Baltz Team and Sacred Heart of Jesus #3.

In the afternoon flights, the Regions Bank team of Kevin Brown, David Gardner, Brett Kirkman and Kevin Rodgers won over CHI St. Vincent #3 and Metro Appliances & More; and Sacred Heart of Jesus Knights of Columbus comprised of Al Bilgischer, Gene Caprio, Gene Loper and Tom Powell topped the field ahead of Koenig Team and Bogoslavsky Law Firm.

The player headcount, while down slightly over 2013, has remained relatively constant over the past three years, Gallaher said. Meanwhile, the number of sponsorships has remained strong, led by CHI St. Vincent, underwriter sponsor; Dr. Brad and Amy Baltz and Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Hot Springs Village, champion level sponsors: and the Arkansas state council of the Knights of Columbus, eagle level sponsors.

Nearly 50 other sponsors across various levels lent financial or in-kind support to the event. Two of these entities, Flake & Kelley Commercial of Little Rock and St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith, afforded several clergy the opportunity to play in the tournament, including Fathers Robert Cigainero, Thomas Keller, James Savery, John Marconi, YC Irudayaraj and Bill Elser.

Gallaher estimated the tournament, Catholic Charities of Arkansas’ biggest fundraising event of the year, would take in about $50,000 to support the organization’s programs across the state, specifically to provide services to immigrant victims of sexual assault, domestic and date violence and stalking.

Domestic abuse is a problem that reaches across racial, cultural and socioeconomic lines. But for all of the recent attention the issue has received through highly publicized incidents involving professional athletes, such violence against immigrant women is still fixed largely in society’s shadows.

The National Latino Network, based in Minnesota, reports about 25 percent of Latino women are abused in their lifetime; 63 percent of these are abused more than once. In a study of pregnant Latino women, 10 percent reported being abused physically and 19 percent abused emotionally. Half never report such incidents to authorities and those who do tell someone overwhelmingly tend to confide in family members instead of health care workers, clergy or someone else outside her immediate circle.

San Francisco-based non-profit Futures Without Violence reports immigrant women are often more susceptible to abuse and more hesitant to report, due to restricted access to legal or advocacy services, because they come from countries where such behavior is accepted or they fear being deported if they come forward.

Gallaher said CCA’s ministry helps provide education for groups connected to immigrant communities on how to recognize abuse, refer victims accordingly and other services.

“This is a longstanding and ongoing ministry we have that we cannot fund fully through our annual budget,” Gallaher said, noting the golf tourney will help make up the budget shortfall.

The golf tournament also helps fund CCA’s successful and ongoing efforts in the area of human trafficking in Arkansas. Over the past two years, diocesan-driven initiatives have resulted in new laws carrying stiffer penalties for traffickers. It also led to the creation of a task force overseen by the Arkansas secretary of state’s office to help coordinate state and federal law enforcement efforts against human trafficking.

Reagan Stanford, CCA’s crime victims service coordinator who actively lobbied such bills into law, co-chairs the task force and is considered one of the state’s leading authorities on the subject.

Besides being the 20th anniversary event, this year’s tournament is also the first to be held since the death of its namesake, Bishop Andrew J. McDonald, who died April 1. When asked if the event carried a certain poignancy given this fact, Gallaher smiled.

“(Bishop McDonald) was a very happy man and that’s what he would want for us today,” he said. “He would want us to enjoy this and be happy.”