Inaugural Top Golf Auggie Navarro Fund Raiser

On Thursday, May 18 we hosted the inaugural Auggie Navarro Top Golf Fund Raiser with a total of 13 teams participating in the event. 

There were 3 flights in this event:
1st Flight – Mull Drilling
2nd Flight – MV Purchasing – Team Allison Igo
3rd Flight – MV Purchasing – Team Gragg Pape

The net profit from this event will be combined with our actual 11th Auggie Navarro Pro-Am Invitational, which will be held on June 11th at Crestview CC. 

Tee sponsors for this event $100 – $1,000.

Thanks to all that participated.

5th Annual Marathon Golf Tourney held at Sim Park Golf Course 

The 5th Annual Marathon Golf Tourney was held at Sim Park GC. All donations are used to pay green fees at all 4 public golf courses all year round. Our goal this year is to raise $25,000.00 between the 2 events explained below.

This is an event within an event. Players have the choice to play sun up till sun down. Others, seen in the pictures below only played 18 holes as a scrabble. 

The low score was 59 shot by Gary (President of MVP) & Elea Navarro (KU – RockChalk), Mike Traylor (Maclaskey), & 
Kyle Wright (MVP).

Congratulations to Pete Krsnich for having the 1st hole-in-one in our 5th Annual Marathon Golf event held at Sim Park GC.  It was extra special because he made the ace while playing an MV Purchasing golf ball. His ace was on #13.

Way to go Pete!!!

Other players & teams were: 
Representing Ascent Midstream (Larry Durham – owner) coming up from Tulsa along with his son Cory Durham, & Jamie Osterhout.
Allison Igo (MVP) , Dick Schremmer (Bear Petroleum -owner), Amber Keith (Daharrha Oil Co), Phil Pierpoint (Daharrha Oil Co).
Rick Navarro (MVP), Nick Hess (Cobalt Energy LLC – owner) 
Joe Hullings Spencer Alefs (Petro Power), 
Jamie Jimenez, Jamie Jimenez, Seth Evenson all played for the co.
Paragon Geophysical Services, Inc. 

Thanks again to everyone that helped pay for kids green fees at all public golf courses anytime!!!!!!

The Class Of 2022 Auggie Navarro scholarship recipients from The Wichita Jr Golf Foundation & The First Tee.

This week has been very special because Eric Johnsen, Corey Novascone, & myself got to announce the 2022 AUGGIE NAVARRO COLLEGE RECIPIENTS of a $10,000.00 Scholarship next fall. The AUGGIE NAVARRO PRO-AM INVITATIONAL has now raised & gifted $524,000.00 to 52 recipients receiving $10k each. In 2013, 4 recipients received $1K from our very 1st event. We’ve come a long way thats to the support of all of you!!!!

We are very pleased to announce the class of 2022 Auggie Navarro scholarship recipients from
The Wichita Jr. Golf Foundation & The First Tee.

THE WICHITA JR. GOLF FOUNDATION
Keira Ronsick – $10,000 from The 2022 Auggie Navarro Pro-Am
Caitlyn Widener- $10,000 from The 2022 Auggie Navarro Pro-Am
Lydia Andreo – $10,000 from The 2022 Auggie Navarro Pro-Am

THE FIRST TEE
Gabriel Grier – $10,000 from The 2022 Auggie Navarro Pro-Am
Sophia Gimino – $10,000 from The 2022 Auggie Navarro Pro-Am
Spencer Seachris – $10,000 from The 2022 Auggie Navarro Pro-Am
Blake Burleson ($5k from Auggie & $5k from Marathon Golf)

Auggie Navarro Pro-Am Invitational winner Aman Gupta makes Wichita Open cut

The 2022 Auggie Navarro Pro-Am Invitational winner, Aman Gupta, made the cut on Friday while playing in the Wichita Open Benefiting KU Wichita Pediatrics Korn Ferry Tour event. 

Aman finished the tournament at -12 and won $6,704.00 in his first PGA event. 

Congrats to Aman Gupta from Oklahoma State University. 

Best of luck in the future!

News and Results from the 10th Annual Auggie Navarro Pro Am Invitational

This year’s tournament ended up having a 3 pro sudden death playoff that went 8 holes.  The winning pro was Aman Gupta, from Oklahoma State University.  Congrats to him!!!  If you are at the Wichita Open this week you should keep an eye out for him throughout the week

We raised $71,000 bringing our total to $517,382.65 total money raised.

The 11th Auggie Navarro Pro Am Invitational will be June 11th, 2023.


Contest & Team winners were as follows:

Hole 1 – Longest Drive – Jay McDorman
Longest Drive Women – Katy Winters
Hole 7 – Closest 2nd –  Spencer Alefs (made a 2 for a rare eagle on a par 4)
Hole 9 – Longest Putt – Larry Durham
Hole 13 – Closest 2nd – Champ Caudillo
Hole 14 – Longest Putt – Rolf Gunderson

Team Flight Results:

1st Ladies Team – Pro Riley Seitz
Annie Johnsen, Vikie Hiebsch, Paula Hoose, JoAnn McCormick

1st Flight Team – Pro Harry Hiller
Eric Johnsen, Corey Novascone, Jordan Storey, Joe Vosburgh – 54

1st Second Flight Team – Pro Luke Schnidergans
Rick Navarro, Jim Wurbs, George Streckker, Rod Taylor – 59

1st Third Flight Team – Pro Trent Romman
Rick Horn, Tom Buckle, Scott Stinnett, Tim Stinnett – 60

Other Team Prizes:

Round of Golf WCC – Larry Womack Team
Round of Golf CCC – Matt Keller Team
Round of Golf Terradyne – Collin Marsh Team
Round of Golf RHCC – Malon King Team
Round of Golf Tallgrass – JoAnn McCormick Team
Round of Golf Reflection Ridge – Chadd Brown Team sponsored by Tom Kirk
Round of Golf Willowbend – Becky Spence Team
KC Soccer vs Austin in KC – Larry Durham Team

Auction:

Oak Tree Round of Golf for 4 players
George Strecker

Ernie Els autograph
Rick Navarro

Misc Prizes were as follows:

WCC Sun Mountain All Leather Golf Bag – A. Ottee
1 night stay at Ambassador – G. Strecker
Sun Mountain Camo Golf Bag – S. Ferguson
Taylor Made (red, white, & blue) Golf Bag – G. Navarro
1 night stay at Hyatt – T. Bonewell
TGW Range Finder – J. Collum
1 night at Hotel Old Town – F. Lichtlin
1 night at Hampton by Hilton – L. Woodbridge
Dinner at Siena Steak House – A. Johnsen
1 night at Tru – J. Osterhout
Callaway Wedge – S. Rothwell
Tour Edge Putter – C. Jefferson
$50 Healing Waters – P. Hoose
Poster of KC Opening night World Series 2016 – B. Begnoche
Limited edition 2 World Series baseballs – T. Stinnett
3 MVP Umbrellas – E. Creach, T. Hilyard, & C. Caudillo

3rd Annual Marathon Golf Tournament Update

Thanks to everyone for a chilly but successful event yesterday.

Congrats to Elea Navarro for carrying her team of Gary Navarr, Mike Traylor, & Kyle Wright to 1st place for the broken club TRAVELING TROPHY.

Also, congrats to Corey Novascone & his guys for completing 153 holes.  Wow…. makes my feet & hands hurt just thing about it. 

New sponsors this year that Mr. Novascone found were as follows:

  1. Fahnestock – $10,000
  2. Wichita WinSuppy -$5,000
  3. Billy Simms BBQ – food sponsor

Adding to the MVP Team funds:

  1. Poet Ethanol Products – Matt Keeler
  2. Cobalt  Energy Oil & Natural Gas – Nick Hess
  3. Ascent Midstream Partners, LLC – Larry Durham
  4. Darrah Oil – Will Darrah
  5. MV Purchasing – Gary & Rick Navarro as well as Allison Igo
  6. Sen. C. McGinn
  7. N. Knop
  8. C. Renard
  9. D. Goter
  10. G. Strecker

If I have missed anyone then I apologize & please forward to anyone that was on your team because I don’t have everyone’s email.

Some funds are still coming in so in about a week we should have a grand total to share w everyone.

Thanks again for your support.

Rick Navarro

Elea Navarro earns $10,000 Wichita Junior Golf Foundation scholarship!

Elea Navarro was among 7 recipients chosen to receive a scholarship from the Auggie Navarro Scholarship Foundation. She received a $10,000 scholarship courtesy of the Wichita Junior Golf Foundation. Elea and her Kapaun Mount Carmel teammates also placed first at the Kansas 5A regionals. Congratulations!

Auggie Navarro’s family carries on golf legacy

Growing up in a pair of boxcars on North Broadway, Auggie Navarro never envisioned himself making a living whacking a little white ball around manicured fairways and greens.

But when his dad got a maintenance job at the original Crestview Country Club course, Auggie started caddying there. Thus began the Navarro family’s three-generation association with Wichita’s golf scene, a connection that’s produced champions, teaching pros and, since 2013, a scholarship program for high school golfers.

The scholarship is named for Auggie,who worked as pro at Sim Park for 31 years.

Navarro competed against greats such as Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino during his career.

“I was a good golfer and golf gave me everything I have,” Auggie said before his death in 2012. “What more can a guy ask for?”

Auggie’s father, Antonio “Tony” Navarro, was a Mexican immigrant and trackman for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad, which gave some of its workers boxcars to live in. The boxcars stood on North Broadway, across from where Savute’s Italian Ristorante now sits. Tony, his wife, Angela, and their 10 children lived in two of them.

Tony later took a job at Crestview, then located at what became Wichita State University’s Braeburn Golf Course. Asked if he had any children who could caddy for the club’s golfers, Tony replied, “Boy, do I have kids.”  

Auggie and five brothers lugged members’ clubs around Crestview for 90 cents a day. The boys walked or hitchhiked four miles to the course at 21st and Oliver.

A member named Godfrey Hartwell often asked Auggie to be his caddy. Hartwell also allowed Auggie to use his clubs to hit balls on the course, breaking the club’s rules against caddies playing there. When Auggie was 17, Hartwell lent the teen his clubs to play and win his first event, a local caddy tournament that earned him a spot in a national caddy tournament in Ohio. 

“That’s how he fell in love with the game,” said Auggie’s son, Rick Navarro.

Auggie went on to play golf at Wichita North High School, where he met his wife, Donna. Their children say Donna’s mother, proud of her Dutch heritage, tried to dissuade her daughter from dating Auggie. 

Auggie won state and local events as an amateur during the 1950s. After working at area manufacturing plants, he was hired as an assistant pro at MacDonald Golf Course, working with head pro Tex Consolver for four years. In 1962, Auggie took over as head golf pro at Sim Golf Course, a job he kept until his retirement.

He became a member of the South Central Section PGA, winning tournaments in Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas during the 1960s. In 1982, he tied a U.S. record low golf score by shooting 14 below par 57 at Sim. The next year, he began playing Senior PGA tour events, cracking the top 100 money winners.

Midway through a 1988 senior pro tournament in Florida that included Arnold Palmer and other well-known players, Auggie was on top of the leaderboard. The next day, a local Miami newspaper carried a story with the headline, “Who the heck is Auggie Navarro?’”

In the article, Auggie tried to explain: “I guess you wouldn’t call me a household name. I’ve been a golf pro at Sim Park, a municipal course in Wichita for 20 years. I run the pro shop and the concessions, handle the carts and have a junior program there. I guess you’d say it’s day and night difference from Palmer and guys like that.” 

Keeping golf in the family

Auggie’s brothers also continued to play golf, sometimes joined by their father, Tony. Auggie’s brother, Frank, became a go-to golf club repairer in the state.

Auggie, Donna and their three children lived a block from Sim Golf Course. Donna helped run the pro shop and concession stand, and the kids all learned the game.

“I played it from sunup to sundown,” said Gary Navarro, who played at Wichita North, winning his first state championship in 1966. He earned All-American honors in 1973 while playing for WSU.

Rick, too, played golf at both North and WSU. 

“One of the reasons we excelled at golf was because Dad had us playing with the gang when we were in junior high,” Rick said. “The gang” was a group of about 30 men who would tee off at 10:30 in the morning at Sim. 

Both Gary and Rick went on to work as golf pros at local golf courses — Rick at Crestview and Tallgrass Country Club, Gary at Wichita Country Club. First Gary and then Rick helped Charles Koch with his golf game, which eventually led to both leaving their golf careers to work in the oil industry. Rick, Gary and their sister, Deborah, now work for MV Purchasing, which markets petroleum products.

A third generation has kept the family legacy going. Rick’s son, Chase, was ranked fifth in the state while in high school at Kapaun Mt. Carmel. In October, Gary’s daughter, Elea, helped her Kapaun girls golf team win a state championship on the same Salina golf course where Gary won his first state championship. Elea will be a senior this year at Kapaun. Rick also is helping coach his 12-year-old daughter, Kaydance.

Auggie helped start the Wichita Junior Golf Program, which introduces the game to area youth ages 9 to 17. The only cost to participants is a $25 enrollment fee; instruction, golf course fees and equipment are provided.

His children continue to support that effort and also started a college scholarship program in Auggie’s name, raising about $455,00 through an annual golf tournament held the last nine years. Four $1,000 scholarships were awarded in 2013. Since then, 31 scholarships worth $10,000 each have been given to golfers who played in high school or a recognized junior golf program in Kansas.

This year, the tournament became a pro-am event in which 32 golfers competed for a spot in the Wichita Open, part of the PGA’s developmental tour. 

Article By Amy Geiszler-Jones

Auggie Navarro Pro-Am Invitational Results. Will Grimmer Earns Wichita Open Exemption. Walser Auto Campus – Wichita awards it’s 1st Hole-in-One to Craig Roberts for his ace on #8 Crestview CC North Course.

The 9th Ammual Auggie Navarro Pro-Am Invitational was a huge success, with this year’s tournament being the first year played as a Pro-Am. The change was well received by the players, which featured professionals competing for an exemption to play in the Wichita Open Benefiting KU Wichita Pediatrics, a Korn Ferry Tour event. The winning professional was Will Grimmer, who posted a round of 63, earning the exemption.

Will Grimmer Earns Wichita Open Exemption.

This year, our very first auction raised $11,077.35. All 8 trips were purchased, with a 3 year price guarantee and no black-out dates. Unaudited net proceeds for the 9th Annual Auggie Navarro Pro-Am Invitational were $82,382.65. The new grand total of proceeds to be given away rose to $446,382.65. In addition, we agreed to another 2 year term with Roy Turner to kick off the Wichita Open on the Sunday before the Open begins.

SAVE THE DATE FOR NEXT YEAR’s EVENT – June 12th, 2022.

The Flight winners were as follows:

1st Flight with a score of 54: Andres Gonzales (PGA Professional), C. Novascone, J. Storey, B. Lampton and E. Johnsen.

2nd Flight with a score of 58: Grant Bennett (PGA Professional), G. Joerg, R. Hubbell, N. Dooling and C. McDonald.

3rd Flight with a score of 61: Adam Ball (PGA Professional), R. Horn, T. Stinnett, T. Buckle and S. Stinnett.

Womens’s Flight: Trent Roman (PGA Professional), Joann McCormick, Andrea Johnsen, Tina Lichtlin, Paula Hoose

Special congratulations to Craig Robinson for his hole-in-one on hole #8 which won him a 2021 Audi from Walser Auto Campus / Wichita.

Walser Auto Campus– Wichita awards it’s 1st Hole-in-One to Craig Roberts for his ace on #8 Crestview CC North Course.

Marathon golf event raises a grand total of $23,000

Shortly after the Marathon golf event I gave Cory Novascone (The First Tee – Program Director) checks collected by MV Purchasing. The event raised a grand total of $23,000 & change. These funds will allow kids under the age of 17 to play free golf all summer at the 4 public golf courses. The web site will remain open www.wichita.golf for donations until we raise $25,000. Please contribute.