On June 7, WakeMed held the first McConnell Golf Challenge for WakeMed Children’s Hospital at Raleigh Country Club, to help raise funds for the first and only Children’s Hospital in Wake County.
The event was unique and highly competitive. The 16-member match-play teams were filled with prominent alumni and businessmen, each 
representing their favorite local university. Even though the top team would win a day of golf at the Old North State Club and Peter Millar shirts in their school colors, they were really competing to win bragging rights for their university. In keeping with the spirit of the competition, Raleigh Country Club even provided beverages in each of the schools’ colors.
View a slideshow of all the pictures from the tournament or watch interviews with:
Tom Oxholm, UNC Team
John McConnell, Virginia Tech/ABC Team
Jack Radford, NCSU Team
Bob Hatley, Appalachian State Team
Sheldon Fox, Duke Team
At the end of the day, the “Virginia Tech / Anybody But Carolina” team led by John McConnell, president & CEO of McConnell Golf LLC and member of the WakeMed Foundation Board of Directors, took top honors. His team included Bill Baker, Rob Brady, Don Cate, Denny Fingers, Coach Jay Hardwick, Mark Humphrey, Steve Lubbers, Anderson Marlowe, John McConnell, Jr., Terry Mikels, Robin Saleeby, Chuck Tickle, Elton Trent, Jason Williams, and Charles Woody.
Congratulations to the Virginia Tech/Anybody But Carolina Team!
The biggest winner, though, was WakeMed Children’s Hospital. The event raised over $65,000 for the WakeMed Foundation’s Just for Kids Kampaign. Funds are earmarked for Phase II of the campaign to expand and renovate the WakeMed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and provide programs and services to ensure our community’s children have access to the healthcare they need, close to home.
Tom Oxholm, WakeMed Foundation Board member, helped coordinate the event and is already looking forward to making next year’s event even better. “It was a fun, competitive event for all players. Each two-man team shot a net best ball score. And they competed in match play against their playing partners in a Nassau with the winners lowering their net best ball. VT and NCSU clearly had the best golfers and on a tough golf course showed their skills. All the teams will need to practice hard for next year’s event.”
Our heartfelt thanks to John McConnell for underwriting the costs, to the staff at Raleigh Country Club for putting together such a fun and seamless event, to the sponsors for their support, and to the golfers for their enthusiasm and good-hearted banter!
