Bob Rosencrans '58
Springfield, Ohio — Members of the Wittenberg University and greater Springfield communities will get together on Aug. 3 for the fifth annual Rosy's Golf Outing to honor the legacy of former Tiger student-athlete, coach and athletics department administrator Bob Rosencrans, class of 1958.
Proceeds from the 2007 event, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at Windy Knoll Golf Club in Springfield, will be split evenly between the Western Ohio Chapter of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association and Wittenberg, which will use the money to continue to make improvements in and around the Bob Rosencrans Fitness Center.
Proceeds raised for the Western Ohio Chapter of the ALS Association are used for research for a cure for the deadly disease, better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Rosencrans died of ALS in 2003, just two months after the inaugural Rosy's Golf Outing.
The Bob Rosencrans Fitness Center, which added 4,622 square feet of space filled with state-of-the-art fitness equipment, served as the centerpiece of a $2 million athletic facilities improvement project completed in 2005. The project also included new strength training and cardiovascular exercise equipment for both the fitness center and the Heinzen Strength Center, re-surfacing of the Earl F. Morris Track, a new synthetic grass surface for Edwards-Maurer Field, and improvements to the lobby of the HPER Center.
Rosencrans was a three-year letterwinner on the football team, and he later spent 25 years at Wittenberg as an assistant football coach, head golf, men's swimming and diving and wrestling coach, and athletics director from 1970-95. Late in his life, Rosencrans became an advocate for ALS research, and his friends and family helped him organize Rosy's Golf Outing.
The 2007 event starts with a buffet lunch provided by Mike and Rosy's, the local restaurant that Rosencrans co-founded and owned across the street from the university's athletics complex. Golfers will hit the course at 12:30 p.m. for a shotgun start. Several golf skill contests are among the day's festivities, including five hole-in-one contests with prizes ranging from a new car, a $10,000 cash award, a $3,000 cash award, a set of golf clubs valued at $2,500 and a one-year membership to Windy Knoll Golf Club.
The entry fee is $125 per player. The field for the four-man scramble event is limited to the first 120 players, with each team starting out with a cumulative handicap of at least 40. Each team will be assigned a golf professional, who will play his or her own ball.
There will be an increased emphasis on the annual silent auction portion of the event, which includes a variety of valuable items. Additional items for the silent auction are being accepted. For more information, contact Julie Rosencrans Rastatter at (937) 342-0026 or Beth Rosencrans Delaney (937) 399-9918.
In addition, tee box sponsorships are available for purchase at a minimum cost of $100. Checks can be sent to John Hecht, 460 E. Madison Ave. Springfield, OH 45503, made payable to 2007 Rosy's Invitational.
The chairman of the 2007 event is Larry Baker, Wittenberg class of 1971. Dan D'Arrigo, Wittenberg class of 1978, is the host of the event as owner of Windy Knoll, a links-style course that opened in 2002. The par-71, 18-hole course plays 6,800 yards from the professional tees.
026-07