Major Leaguers United for Second CSN Golf Classic

The College of Southern Nevada Foundation and Tim Chambers, CSN’s athletic director and baseball coach, held the second CSN Golf Classic fundraiser at DragonRidge Golf Club, on Tuesday, Nov. 24.  The event raised more than $72,000 to benefit the men’s baseball and women’s softball teams and help with scholarship programs, travel expenses to games, equipment and salaries.

Pictured above: Steve Garvey – Tim Chambers (CSN Coach-Athletic Director) – Mike Dunn – Aaron Rowand – Marty Barrett

Athletics at CSN are not state funded and no money comes from taxpayers or the general fund. The solution is private funding with Chambers having the daunting task of raising at least $300,000 of the $600,000 budget a year. Chambers, who has built the program from the ground up said, “A lot of time and effort on the part of a coach goes into trying to keep the program going at one of the largest community colleges in the country.”

The event attracted 132 players (33 teams) and featured five current and former professional baseball players lending their celebrity support. Chambers is the magnet for attracting their participation. Included in the tournament were San Francisco Giants centerfielder Aaron Rowand, New York Yankees pitcher Mike Dunn, who played at CSN, and former Major Leaguers Steve Garvey – LA Dodgers, Tyler Houston – Chicago Cubs, and Marty Barrett – Boston Red Sox.

Garvey told Chambers, “Anytime you have a function for this athletic department, please let me know and I will be here to support it. This was a great tournament.”

Dunn said he participates because he feels like he owes something back to Chambers and the Coyotes where he played in 2004 and 2005.

In addition to the scramble format, which netted $1,500 for a foursome, or $5,000 for a threesome with a major-leaguer, the tournament was filled with traditional elements such as closest-to-the-hole challenges and extras like a putting contest and the clever event on hole No. 4, where a CSN Coyotes team member, again for an added donation, would “hit a golf ball with a bat” to establish the player’s next shot.

Chambers, who became a head coach at age 25 at Bishop Gorman High School, where he led the Gaels to eight playoffs in his 10 years there, has been at CSN for a decade. He has garnered recognition for his Coyotes, which has won the Scenic West Athletic Conference five times out of the eight years and the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship in 2003. During his tenure, Chambers has seen his program go from playing on a little field to a respectable $1 million facility at the Henderson campus with a clubhouse and press box.

He points out a sobering fact. “Most of my players won’t make it to the major leagues, so scholastics are a major focus of the athletics program.” Proudly he adds, “The CSN athletic graduation rate is 81 percent.”

For more information about CSN, visit www.csn.edu.

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