On March 15th, the Rochester Rotary held its drawing for a trip for two to the Masters Tournament in August, Georgia. Two hundred fifty-two tickets were sold, and $835 was raised as part of the silent auction. Almost $10,000 was raised, which helps support organizations like Neighborhood House, Casa Colibri, Dutton Farm, scouting, college scholarships, and leadership training for young people.
This year’s winner was Bob Carabelli! Coincidently, Bob’s friend Tim Crawford won the raffle in 2018 and took Bob as his guest. “Fair is fair, so Bob will be taking me this year!” joked Crawford.
Rotary President David Eardley said, “This is the fourth year that Rotary has raffled off a trip for two to the Masters. The trip includes a round trip, charter flight to Agusta, tickets to the Tournament on Saturday and Sunday, hotel accommodations, and meals.”
Our 2020 Masters Golf Ticket Raffle was a wild ride, with extended delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but, in the end, we sold all 300 tickets, raising $15,000 for our club's charity efforts.
This was the third time the Rochester Rotary Club ran the Masters Ticket Raffle. As one of America's most exclusive sporting events, tickets to The Masters are hard to come by, especially for the Saturday and Sunday rounds of golf. But through a special partner, we were able to purchase two trip packages including private charter air fare, ground transportation, and overnight accommodations for two lucky winners.
Sales efforts began in the late fall of 2019 but in March, just days before the drawing and weeks before the Masters Tournament, COVID-19 struck. The Masters was delayed until the fall but was closed to the public, so we updated the prize package to a trip to the 2021 Masters. Unfortunately, COVID-19 continued to spread throughout 2020 and into 2021 so the 2021 Masters was also closed to spectators. We again decided to change the prize package to a trip to the 2022 Masters and were ultimately able to select a winner on March 16, 2021. All 300 tickets were sold out of a maximum of 300. Rotarian Lars Nordburg won the tickets and can't wait to go. In total, the effort raised $15,000 for our club's charity efforts. A complete success!