Pat Dooley Memorial Golf Tournament Changes Direction
By Jerry Rousseau
Patrick Dooley was the son of former KPU faculty member, Steve Dooley. Pat, who excelled at sports and especially loved golf, had hoped to enrol in Kwantlen's Turf Management Diploma program upon high school graduation but passed away after a short illness at the age of 16 on February 5, 2008.
Some years later, Pat's parents started building a Scholarship Endowment Fund in his honour. In response, Kwantlen Turf Club students and Lead Turf Management Instructor Stan Kazymerchyk offered to organize a golf tournament to raise money to complete this to endowment level (a self-perpetuating scholarship). The idea was to bring Dooley family and friends together with turf management industry personnel and sponsors in support of this worthy cause.
On Friday, April 8, 2016, a bright, sunny day greeted 80 golfers to a great day of scramble golf at Mayfair Lakes Golf Club in Richmond, followed by a full buffet dinner. The Dooley family's warm presentation about Patrick's life ended a perfect day at the inaugural event.
Growing immensely in popularity over an eight-year span, the tournament has consistently sold out over the past few years with tens of thousands of dollars raised for turf student awards and turf research, the highest at over $15,000 in 2023. The endowment is now at or very close to $60,000 meaning a total of $3,000 can be given to KPU turf students annually.
While the Dooley family wishes to continue and grow the tournament, Stan Kazymerchyk’s recent retirement left a vacuum, not only in the Kwantlen Turf Management program but with organization and production of future Dooley events. In an email to tournament supporters, Kazymerchyk stated, “This is normally the time of year when I would be reaching out to you about your participation in the Pat Dooley Golf Tournament. In case you were wondering, I will not be organizing this event due to my retirement from KPU Turf Management Diploma. This event should be the responsibility of my replacement at KPU but this person does not exist. It appears that the KPU Foundation [Kwantlen’s fundraising branch] is taking over event organization, with 100% of 2024 event proceeds and future proceeds going to their student awards fund.”
I can confirm that none of last year’s raised funds went toward turf research or turf student awards. Starting with the 2025 tournament, the KPU Foundation is taking the reins and will direct funds toward their mission of supporting KPU and its students rather than funding turf research and turf management student scholarships.
After lengthy discussion, the WCTA Board concluded that while the Pat Dooley Tournament is very worthy, losing the volunteer organizational aspect means far fewer funds will be generated for charitable causes unless there are dramatic increases in player/sponsorship fees. Also, without any clear line of sight toward supporting turf students and research, the event no longer aligns with the WCTA’s mandate.
Bottom line is the WCTA will not be able to support the event moving forward and wants to make sure all turf managers and the supply/service chain understands they are not supporting the industry by playing in and/or sponsoring this event.
Having been involved since the beginning and playing in every tournament but one, my feelings about the future of the Dooley Tournament are mixed. Of course, the WCTA would never stand in the way of the growth/impact of this tournament and the family’s wishes are paramount which means their decision to involve the KPU Foundation and its fundraising priorities are to be respected.
In the other hand, I’m disappointed that the turf management industry has been left on the shoulder after so many years of memorable moments and community goodwill. While the KPU Foundation undoubtedly sees broader student support as a more sustainable mission, it was Stan Kazymerchyk, the Kwantlen Turf Club and turf industry support that built this event from the ground up.
It’s a reminder that growth often comes with trade-offs—here, trading specificity for scale. Whether the tournament can retain its emotional core and community feel under new management will be the real test moving forward.