Westapher Golf Charity
In the Spring of 1965, sixteen men from a Park Cities church gathered for a round of golf at Glen Lakes Country Club at what is now the intersection of Central Expressway and Walnut Hill Lane. Since the church had no formal Men’s Club at the time, the pastor hoped the event would foster an afternoon of “fun and fellowship.”
Little did anyone in the group realize they were pioneering a tradition of generous giving that would far out last the original host venue. Nor did anyone envision that this friendly little tournament would generate more than a million dollars for church and community-sponsored charities over the next 40 years.
“Following the round of golf, at the 19th hole, one of the men suggested we pass the hat and make a donation to charity,” said the late Father C.V. Westapher, the tournament's namesake and former pastor at Saint Michael and All Angels church who passed away in 2004. “We were pleasantly surprised to collect one thousand dollars which we donated to St. Jude’s House, a halfway house for alcoholics.”
According to Father Westapher, as participation in the golf tournament grew, it become evident that it should become a charitable organization. So they formed an executive committee to organize and run the event, and formed some simple, yet effective criteria for giving.
“Our decision process was pretty easy” said Father Westapher, “We looked for relatively new charities that were not yet underwritten, or those that had difficulty attracting funds. We just wanted to identify worthy organizations that could put the money to good use.”
In the beginning, the tournament drew its field primarily from the parishioners of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. For several years, the Westapher was the primary fundraising golf tournament of the Episcopal Diocese in Dallas. Early fund recipients included the Voice of Hope, Practical Parent Education for the city of Richardson, and Stars for Children, an organization that worked with abused and underprivileged kids.
More recently, the tournament has raised funds for such worthy organizations as Our Friend’s Place, Cathedral Gardens, Shelter Ministries of Dallas, St. Philip’s School & Community Center, Hope Cottage and Equest.