Kosciusko County Chapter of the Indiana University Alumni Association President John Ashman tees off at the start of the annual Stan Fox Memorial Scholarship Golf Outing at Tippecanoe Lake Country Club Monday. (Photos by James Costello)

LEESBURG — Not even the rain could put a damper on the Stan Fox Memorial Scholarship Golf Outing Monday.

Precipitation cut play short, but attendees lingered around the clubhouse at Tippecanoe Lake Country Club well after the round wrapped, still laughing and socializing at the event, which was put on by the Kosciusko County Chapter of the Indiana University Alumni Association.

“We ended up playing just 16 holes. A lot of people had either one or two holes to go so we had to just call it,” explained tournament co-organizer Becky Fox. “A lot of these people stayed just for the auction. They all stayed because they wanted to kibitz with each other and have a good time.

“I think everybody had a great time. Our course is in great shape here. I think everybody enjoys playing this course. It’s kind of a little secret in our county. I’m really happy that this many people showed up.”

All told, the IU alumni-sponsored outing attracted 14 foursomes in its second straight year. Attendance at the outing, originally organized by its now-namesake Stan Fox, fell off somewhat after Stan’s passing, and there was a brief hiatus before it was revived last year by Kosciusko County Chapter of the Indiana University Alumni Association President John Ashman and Stan’s wife Becky.

“Stan Fox, he was Cream and Crimson, IU personified. He bled red all the time for IU, and he was the one that really got this started some years ago,” said Ashman. “He passed away — and this happens sometimes — as the presidency is passed down, people get busy and don’t get to spend the time, so the tournament went from being a pretty big event some years ago to not having it at all. I retired two years ago and moved up here and decided that we needed to get it going again, so Becky (Fox) and I kind of jumped in and got everybody together. Other people came on board, and we’re going to get it going again. We’re really tickled. We’ve got 14 teams this year, and we’d like to have 18 and hopefully next year we’ll do that. It’s just a lot of fun.”

This year’s outing was pushed forward from August to June in order to attract more participants, a move that seemed to pay dividends Monday. The guest speaker at the luncheon was IU Assistant Athletic Director for Alumni Relations Mark Deal, a former football player and assistant coach under legendary coach Lee Corso, and Deal brought the Old Oaken Bucket — the traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the annual football rivalry game between IU and Purdue — along with him. Standing at a podium bearing a banner with the words “Beat Purdue” inscribed on it, Deal told stories of his time as both a player and a coach and the rivalry with the Boilermakers.

The purpose of the outing was to raise money for scholarships to IU for Kosciusko County graduates, and two scholarship recipients were honored Monday.

Wawasee grad Leann Estrada was awarded the Wells Scholarship, a full ride scholarship that includes room and board, a living stipend and a year of study abroad. Estrada plans to study outdoor recreation, parks and human ecology, a subject she says she first became interested in as a member of Wawasee’s horticulture team after growing up in the desert in Eagle Pass, Texas before moving to Indiana four years ago.

“I would like to go to Israel because they have a lot of the leading technology in nature and plants all over the world. I would love to go there,” she explained of her plans to study abroad.

“I got interested in plants when I was on the horticulture team at my high school. That’s what kind of kick started that. And when I grew up in the desert, it was just really dry so now that’s why I just love to be outdoors and in nature.”

Warsaw grad Emily Shepherd was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the Kosciusko County Chapter of the IU Alumni Association. While the money comes from the Kosciusko County alumni chapter, Shepherd was selected by a special committee of the alumni association, not the Kos County chapter itself, Ashman explained. Shepherd comes from a family of IU alums, and she said she was honored to be singled out for her scholarship.

“It’s really an honor to be here. I’m really excited that I got to meet a lot of people that are really important to IU, that went to IU,” she said. “There are a lot of legacies, and I’m really excited to be honored and try to continue that on.”

Pictured are the event organizers, guest speaker and scholarship winners at Monday’s outing. From left, they are:IU Assistant Athletic Director for Alumni Relations Mark Deal, $1,000 scholarship recipient Emily Shepherd, Becky Fox, Wells Scholarship winner Leann Estrada, John Ashman and Mallory Evans.

Winners of the golf outing itself were the team of Lynda Moryl, Marcia McNagny, Janet Zimmer and Babs Couth. Since rain forced organizers to call the outing early, the four-person scramble became a nine-hole event, with one par 5, two par 3s and six par 4s counting towards teams’ final score. Moryl, McNagny, Zimmer and Couth finished at 7 under, three strokes ahead of the runner-up team of Bill Woods, Cole Richardson, Rick Moriarty and Joe Barankowski and four strokes better than the third-place foursome of Tim, Tyler, Bobby and Austin Shepherd.

“The girls always do very well. We had actually three club champions on our team, so that helped,” said Moryl.

“It was a lot of fun. It was for charity, and we’re all IU grads so that’s the best part. It goes toward all the IU scholarships for Kosciusko County so we’re glad to do it.”

Lynda Moryl, right, poses with a photo with Becky Fox and John Ashman.

The team of, from left, Andy Crask, Mike Riddle, Todd Meier and Andy Roeder take a break from play for a group pic during Monday’s outing.

Pictured is auction winner Austin Shepherd with Becky Fox. Shepherd won an Archie Miller-autographed basketball. The winning bid was $310.