Shaw Charity Classic breaks fundraising record
Shaw Charity Classic organizers always wind up sounding like a broken record when they make this annual announcement. That’s not a bad thing. Tournament officials revealed Monday that the latest edition of Calgary’s award-winning senior golf shootout raised a staggering $14.07 million for 200 children-based charities.
That shatters the record for the largest single donation in PGA Tour Champions history.
Again.
Throughout its seven-year history, the event has continued to raise that bar, bettering its own mark each summer.
“It’s really amazing. I don’t believe that we ever imagined the kind of numbers that we’re hitting,” said Jim Riddell, who succeeded his late father, Clay, as tournament chair. “I think the shock factor came a few years ago when we started seeing $8 million, and then to hit $12 million last year …
“And now to beat that again, it still blows you away to think that a weeklong tournament can bring that much generosity forward. In this economy, in this tougher time, it’s really exciting to still be able to build on what we have established.”
Wes Short Jr. received the whitehat treatment on the Labour Day long weekend as the 2019 Shaw Charity Classic champion, draining a clutch birdie on the final hole at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club to clinch a one-stroke victory.
On Monday morning, the atrium at Shaw Court was packed with tournament winners, too — representatives of the 200 charities from across the province that will benefit from the dollars raised through the Shaw Birdies for Kids presented by Altalink program and other tournament initiatives.
Over the past seven years, the Shaw Charity Classic has now racked up more than $48 million in total donations.
“That’s what Calgary is about is helping out and helping to support these kids,” said Shaw Communications CEO Brad Shaw, who also announced the company has extended its commitment as title sponsor through 2022. “This has been voted three times the No. 1 event on tour, and that’s exciting. But it’s not about that. For us, it’s about how we can continue to contribute. With the ideas and with the opportunity for us to continue to grow, I get excited about the future and where it can go and the opportunity to continue to build it and help even more kids.”
Monday’s announcement would have put a smile on the face of tournament founder Clay Riddell, who made a handful of these record-setting reveals before his death in September 2018.
“This was always a super-special day for my dad,” Jim Riddell told the crowd. “He truly wanted to come share the results with everybody on the success that we’d had.”
The results were, once again, historic.
Like a broken record.
“For us to be able to build off what we’ve done the last few years, it’s pretty incredible,” Shaw said. “I think it’s a tremendous reflection of Calgary as a community. When you find a good cause and so many great things happening, people jump in, sponsors jump in, volunteers jump in.
“As a family here and a big employer in the city, we have to find every opportunity to give back, and this is something that has grown beyond our wildest dreams.”