The MBA Golf Challenge was created as the first intercontinental sports event between ten leading European and US business schools. This spring, on the weekend of April 1-3, 2005, the MBA Golf Challenge was held on U.S. soil after an extremely successful debut in Barcelona, Spain last year. The 2005 MBA Golf Challenge took place at Poppy Hills Golf Course in scenic Pebble Beach, CA, and was sponsored by KPMG, Philips, Rolex and Callaway, among other corporate sponsors.
PRO-aMBA Charity Tournament
The Pro-aMBA charity tournament, played on Friday April 1st, brought together top-executives, sports celebrities and MBA students, to raise money for the Ted Lindsay Foundation, a charity focused on eliminated autism. Ted Lindsay, a former hockey player for the Detroit Red Wings, was known to be fiercely competitive, contributing to four Stanley Cup titles over his 17 year career. Off the ice, Lindsay’s presents a milder demeanor and has always been willing to give of himself for a worthy cause. The Pro-aMBA event featured Red Wings’ stars past and present, along with celebrities from other sports teams and fields, all of whom showcased both their competitive spirit and generosity. The group and sponsors raised more than $25,000 in the fight against autism.
MBA Golf Challenge
On Saturday April 2nd and Sunday April 3rd, U.S. and European MBAs went head to head in the MBA Golf Challenge. The Challenge follows a Ryder Cup format, with Columbia, Harvard, Kellogg, Stanford and Wharton representing the U.S. and Bocconi, IESE, INSEAD, London Business School and the Rotterdam School of Management representing Europe. The two continents competed in 54 holes of match-play over the two days, also at Poppy Hills Golf Course (one of the host courses of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament).
The U.S. dominated the Europeans in this year’s tournament, reversing its defeat one year earlier. Helping to lead the U.S. charge, HBS competitors Felipe Dawes (OA), Justin Crandall (OA), Kevin White (NE) and Ryan Perry (OE) compiled a record of 9-3 in the tournament, with Dawes going 3-0.
Justin Crandall, who also played last year in Spain, commented, “Playing in the MBA Golf Challenge the past two years has been one of the highlights of my HBS experience. The opportunity to play golf in 75 degree weather in early April, on a world-class course, with so many great fellow MBA students from around the world, all while raising money for a worthy cause, was a truly amazing experience. We made a lot of good friends and I hope also a difference in the fight against autism.”
