CPI board gives its last $13,000 to scholarship fund

The Corn Palace Invitational Committee donated $13,000 to a local scholarship organization Tuesday and then dissolved after 39 years in existence.

The CPI panel, which has organized the popular golf tournament for nearly four decades, transferred all of its savings to the Mitchell Schools Scholarship Fund. The donation comes with the stipulation that 5 percent of the value of the fund on Dec. 31 of each year will be made available to graduates of Mitchell High School and Mitchell Christian who will be participating in an intercollegiate golf program.

“Our committee has terminated its existence,” said Tom Dice, CPI committee member. “I think we all have mixed emotions.”

As for the CPI itself, the tournament’s current format will die with the committee, although one local golf course plans to keep the tournament alive in a new form.

The tournament began in 1970 as a replacement for the Corn Palace golf outings held with performers at the Corn Palace Festival. Since then, approximately 52 two-person teams have participated annually in the invitation-only tournament.

While the exact number of awards has yet to be determined by the foundation, CPI committee member Tom Patzer said the newly-established scholarship will provide another method of providing opportunities to graduating students. The foundation also distributes money to all Mitchell graduates pursuing postsecondary education.“We see this as a whole new leg for our scholarship fund,” Patzer said.

Dice said the scholarship will ensure that the fruits of nearly four decades of work done by the committee will continue to be enjoyed by the community. He also believes the transition could open the door for other organizations to emulate the CPI committee’s decision.

“It certainly has the potential to plant the seed for somebody else,” Dice said. “You never know what might come out of this once you create the concept.”

Dice said a difficulty in finding volunteers for the committee was the main reason for its dissolution.

During recent years of the tournament’s existence, the invitation-only tournament was split, giving one day each to the privately-owned Wild Oak Golf Club and the cityowned Lakeview Golf Course.

Chas Hurd, director of golf at Wild Oak, said that although the committee has disbanded, the tournament will live on at his course.

“As far as the tournament itself, it will basically be the same,” Hurd said. “The big difference is that both days will be played here.”

Hurd said the tournament this year is scheduled to take place Aug. 12-14, with the first day being devoted to practice.

Dan Sabers, clubhouse manager at Lakeview Golf Course, said he intends for the city course to host a memberguest tournament similar to the CPI. Although the exact format and date have not been specified, Sabers plans to model it after the CPI.

Sabers said he was surprised to hear of the CPI committee’s dissolution.

“It was a great tournament for us and we really liked it the way it was before,” Sabers said. “Sometimes, good things come to an end.”

Tags: corn palace invitational, news, local, cpi