Somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 people streamed onto the grounds of St. Louis Catholic Church in East Memphis last month for the parish’s long-running Hole-in-One Charity Festival, briefly turning the campus into a mashup of driving range and neighborhood block party. Amateur golfers racked up points throughout the week in the Cardinal Cup, with the top 10 scorers earning a spot in the high-pressure Million-Dollar Shootout on the closing night. Around a dozen golfers managed to ace shots over the course of the festival, but the seven-figure payout and the car on the line stayed unclaimed. Organizers say the crowds and early donations are headed straight into the church’s school, sports and youth programs.
As photographed and reported by the Memphis Flyer, volunteers pegged the crowd at roughly 20,000, and the St. Louis Men’s Club Culinary Institute kept them fed with crowd-pleasers like the festival favorite shrimp and pesto pizza. The Flyer also noted that nearly $150,000 in corporate and family donations had already been pledged before the first ball was teed up, a financial cushion that organizers said helped cover prizes and support parish outreach efforts.
How The Million-Dollar Shootout Works
The Catholic Diocese of Memphis lists the Hole-in-One festival as running June 21–27 at 203 S. White Station Road, where the church grounds are temporarily converted into about 41 tee boxes for players to take their swings. According to ActionNews5, the top ten finishers in the Cardinal Cup advance to Saturday’s Million-Dollar Shootout, while select qualifiers during the week can try for $25,000 toward the purchase of a vehicle from City Auto or take a shot at winning a car sponsored by local dealerships. The St. Louis Men’s Club oversees the full slate of games, food and family activities that keeps regular volunteers coming back and introduces new ones to the parish tradition.
Why It Matters
Organizers describe Hole-in-One as the parish’s financial backbone. “This is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” Brian Tisdale, president of the St. Louis Men’s Club, told the Daily Memphian. Local coverage and church materials highlight the festival’s decades-long run, with this year marking the 68th edition, and point to its steady role in covering costs for the school and youth ministries.
Full event details, photo galleries and volunteer sign-up information are posted on the St. Louis Men’s Club event page and the parish site. For background, history and schedules, see the St. Louis Men’s Club event page and the Catholic Diocese of Memphis announcement.
