Mt. Carmel School raises $20K from golf tourney

The 4th Annual Mt. Carmel School Golf Tournament not only drew a record number of participants but also raised $20,000—not deducting expenses—for the only Catholic school in the Commonwealth.

Mt. Carmel School president Margaret Dela Cruz said she did not expect such a big turnout for the event much less the generous sum of money raised from the tournament.

“I’m really overwhelmed with the success and the support community has given us. This is the biggest tournament we had. In all, we had a total of 116 who paid entry fees with only 105 actually playing. There were several people who were just happy donating to a good cause and didn’t mind if they play or not,” she said.

The school’s president also said that for a change she was happy to be off the mark in her predictions for the tournament’s turnout.

“Earlier I said I was expecting 80-90 players and I was looking at raising $6,000-$7,000 and I exceeded both of that. I don’t know what to say… It’s just a big success and overwhelming and shows the support the community has for the only Catholic school on island,” she added.

Among the well-known Mt. Carmel School alumni that participated in the event were House Speaker Oscar Babauta, Rep. Arnold Palacios, former Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente, Atty. Brien Sers Nicholas, Juan “Pan” Guerrero, Commonwealth Ports Authority executive Regino Celis, and national baseball player Joey Dela Cruz,.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial also graced the tournament, albeit only during the start where he greeted golfers before tee-off in a show of support for his alma mater, Mt. Carmel School.

“It was such a perfect day to play golf. It may have been a little hot and windy, but everyone had a grand time. There were even a lot of people who stayed on and attended the awards and banquet,” she said.

Dela Cruz said the money raised during the tournament would go directly to the school’s coffers with its board of directors using the extra funding to augment the spiraling increase in the operating costs of Mt. Carmel School.

“The board holds this annual event to help defray the school’s operational costs. That’s because Mt. Carmel School has not raised its tuition fees for the past five years. Since 2001, things have come up, costs have come up, but we have managed to keep tuition fees the same. The golf tournament is just one way the board has done to help defray the cost of operations,” she said.