Captured Event

August, 21 2009 - Triangle Cross and Golf Club Uses Tools to Succeed

What: 4th Annual Triangle Cross Ranch Golf Tournament

Where: Ute Creek Golf Course, Longmont Colorado

When: Friday, August 21, 2009

Time: 8:00 a.m.shotgun start

Ticket Prices: $125 per golfer

Beneficiary: Triangle Cross Ranch

Presenting Sponsor(s): Eberl’s Claim Service

Co-Chair(s): Brad Schlepp and Tom Shaw

Executive Director: Suzzanne Shaw

Committee Members: Brad Schlepp, Tom Shaw, Jack LaBonde, Dan Flanagan

Staff: Beverly Rodenburg, Randee Nuse, Hannah Shaw

Catering: Breakfast sponsor, Las Palmeras, and Ute Creek Golf Course

Attendance: 80 golfers

Attire: Golf attire

Special Thanks: Sports Legend Clint Hurdle

Donors: CRDN, ERS, BluSky Restoration, All Phase Restoration, Jim Black Construction, Visiting Angels, Kenny’s Steak House, Faith Bible Chapel, IMA of Colorado, Alliance Restoration, Monty’s Jerky, Grain Conditioning, Spradley Barr Motors, Monty’s Jerky, Magianno’s Little Italy, Gojo Sports, Sweet Spot Custom Golf, The Stick Man, DMA Housing and Embassy Suites

Board of Directors: Brad Schlepp, President; Linda Hoffner, President Elect; Meg Spencer, Treasurer; Donna Gustafson, Secretary; Kay Weitzel; Kit Bradshaw and Tom Shaw, Past President.

Blacktie Photos by: Marcelo Mainzer

Clint Hurdle in action
View all photos

by Marcelo Mainzer 

Someone once said “Use the right tool for the job”-- it might have been a carpenter or a gardener, and at Triangle Cross Ranch they take that motto to heart. Even the name Triangle (for faith, hope and love) and Cross (a symbol of their Christian faith) speak of the tools they use to create a better life for people who face special challenges.

 However, as any good carpenter knows, sometimes the right tool needs to be improvised, and to help fund the good work at Triangle Cross Ranch the golf club was the tool of choice on Friday, August 21, with the 4th Annual Triangle Cross Ranch Golf Tournament. Held again this year at the Ute Creek Golf Course, in Longmont Colorado, with its wide open spaces and magnificent views, the setting was perfect for an organization that uses outdoor work as part of its learning program.

 At Triangle Cross, ranchers are given a toolbox labeled NORMAL; N: Necessary to the community, O: Oriented to daily life, R: Realistic in Expectations, M: Moral in Action, A: Ability beyond disabilities, and L: Loved beyond measure. “This means teaching and training each person in the real issues of daily life, allowing for as much independence as possible, encouraging and supporting them within their individual abilities. Triangle Cross Ranch strives to create a new definition of normal, celebrating each individual as a God-pleasing creation.”

 In these challenging times many people have learned how important it is to work, to produce something that meets a need in the community, and Triangle Cross is no exception. The ranchers have two lines of products they create to help support the Ranch; "Moral Fiber" is the livestock portion of the program, Ranchers care for four male alpacas these fiber producing animals are shorn once a year in the spring for mountains of wool, alpaca and mohair. Ranchers process the fiber, and then spend a portion of their day in the Love House workshop carrying out the various tasks necessary to turn raw fiber into one of a kind hand made bags and mittens.

The other Triangle Cross industry is "Gospel Greens"; Ranchers grow and harvest usable and saleable produce like vegetables and herbs in raised beds. All TCR products are 100% natural; with no pesticides or preservatives.  The vegetables are harvested, frozen and eaten throughout the winter by staff and ranchers.  The herbs are de-stemmed and sorted, dried, chopped, packaged and sold at local farmer's markets.

 Recently Triangle Cross Ranch added a new greenhouse to its operation.  It will be used to begin growing and selling bedding plants and starting herbs earlier for a better crop.  Thanks are due to Group Publishing, of Loveland, Colorado, and to Karen Moore-Pelzer of Greeley, CO for helping fund this important addition; all non-profit organizations need support and collaboration of the community like this. Fund raising can take many forms; one extremely pleasurable way is to hold a golf tournament.

 Many of the same golfers return year after year, making entry in the Triangle Cross Ranch Tournament a tradition. Another tradition in the making is the participation of Clint Hurdle. Mr. Hurdle is a sports legend with a prestigious history in baseball as a player; featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1978 as that year's "phenom," a coach and manager. In 2007, Hurdle managed the Colorado Rockies to their best finish ever in the team's 15-year history.

 At the 4th Annual Triangle Cross Ranch Golf Tournament, Coach Hurdle shared his smile, his warmth and his time generously with players, ranchers, volunteers and staff alike. Although an accomplished golfer in his own right he was gregarious to those who were closer or farther from the pin then he at the Beat the Coach challenge on the sixth hole.

 Golfers were also greeted with goodies at holes sponsored by Alliance Restoration Inc., Jim Black Construction Company, All Phase Restoration and had a shot at a New Mustang provided by Spradley Barr Auto Group. In all it was a perfect day for golfing, though for golfers what day isn’t--shots were made and not made but regardless stories were created. Golfers returned to the clubhouse for a hearty meal and the opportunity of bidding on terrific silent and live auction items.

 Most importantly a very special place will continue to provide opportunity and direction for a group of NORMAL people, practicing the principle of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

 What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight of a good drive.  ~Arnold Palmer