GONZALES — More than 20 teams competed in the sixth annual Gonzales Rotary Golf Scramble at the Laguna Seca Golf Course on June 3 to support the Gonzales Rotary and the Betty Macias Scholarship.
Approximately six years ago the Gonzales Rotary Golf Scramble fundraiser was started by Rotary President Tim Jackson, who approached the club with the idea as well as John Macias. According to Jackson, Macias was interested in partnering with the Rotary Club.
“It has been a very successful tournament that has grown every year for the last six years now,” Jackson said.
Over 20 teams competed in the Golf Scramble. The event is also aided by sponsorships by approximately 50 local businesses and individuals who donate funds or prizes for the golf participants. The Golf Scramble Tournament is a fundraiser for the Gonzales Rotary Club and the Betty Macias Family Memorial Scholarship. The Rotary Club gives out three memorial scholarships every year but this year gave out two additional scholarships.
“It was very hard to decide who we were going to give scholarships out to because we had so many applicants,” Jackson said.
John gave out the Betty Macias Family Scholarship in memory of his wife and awarded it to Iris Manriquez.
“I applied to the Betty Macias Scholarship because I had heard about her and how outstanding of an athlete she was,” Manriquez said. “I found similarity in her hard work and ethic that she stuck to it and kept going. That’s what I see in myself.”
Manriquez said receiving the Betty Macias Scholarship will help open doors for her and help her go further in her education.
Anthony Avila was awarded the Gonzales Rotary Scholarship on May 31 and Avila was one of the five recipients of the scholarship.
“I am going to go to Santa Clara University and major in biology so that I can work toward a career in medicine,” Avila said.
Due to the high tuition at Santa Clara University, Avila was seeking other sources to fund his educational goals and attend the same school as his sister.
“This scholarship will go toward helping me pay that off,” Avila said. “One thing I like about scholarships is they feel earned. I’ve spent the past four years in high school doing a bunch of activities and community service. I appreciate the fact that it can pay off in ways such as this.”
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Tim Jackson’s last name.
