News Releases

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Students in the University of Kansas School of Business’ Applied Portfolio Management program get the opportunity to meet with high-ranking executives from companies all over the United Sates on a monthly basis. “It doesn’t get much better than that,” said James Mick, a 1999 APM alumnus.

On Sept. 24, APM students and alumni did that same thing, just not in the classroom. Rather, they met at the Lawrence Country Club for the sixth annual APM Golf Tournament.

The tournament gives alumni and students the opportunity to interact, reminisce, and compete on the golf course, similar to the way many of the alumni now working in the finance arena compete each day.

“It’s more of a fundraising event for student scholarships, but if you meet a few people that can help you, that’s an added bonus,” said current APM student Chris England.

Proceeds from the tournament, which include registration fees and an auction of KU-themed prizes, go to support scholarships awarded to students in the APM program. Six thousand dollars was raised this year.

“One of the goals that Kent McCarthy put in place when he started APM was to increase networking opportunities for the students,” said APM director Catherine Shenoy. “We thought a golf tournament would be a good way to network and raise money for the program scholarships at the same time.”

The program’s intensity and reliance on team work may be what knits the students and alumni together so well, and consistently brings people to the tournament. Alumni typically come from as far west as Los Angeles and east as New York to play in the tournament. All 40 spots were filled in this year’s tournament.

Mick and his three teammates, Matt Hornbaker, Greg Shirron, and Bryan Gonzales took first in the tournament with a 59, or 11 under par.

The tournament was sponsored by Campanile Capital, Lockton, Garmin, Inergy, Tradebot, Entertainment Properties Trust, Capitol Federal, and Tortoise Capital Advisors.