Kuyper College Hosts 2024 International Golf Scramble
On a day where the temperature was approaching his age, there was no place 94-year-old John VanderHenst would rather be than at the annual Kuyper College International Golf scramble.
The event began in 1996, has run every year since and VanderHenst and his foursome have attended without fail. They’re there to support a good cause: Kuyper’s Ambassador Scholarship Fund which helps international students attend Kuyper College by providing up to 85 percent of their tuition.
Upon completing their studies at Kuyper, many of these students return home to serve Christ’s church around the world, something that brings a smile to VanderHenst’s expressive face.
“I think it’s so wonderful that we can come out for this golf outing and help make a Kuyper education available to these young men and women from overseas,” he said. “The money raised makes a Kuyper education possible for these students, and, just as importantly, it spreads the theological influence of Kuyper around the world.”
A Calvin graduate with an MBA from the University of Michigan, VanderHenst got connected to Kuyper through Ben Boersma, a former RBC board member who was instrumental in starting the annual golf outing and also instrumental in recruiting VanderHenst and a number of other faithful attendees in those early years.
“I think the Lord, through Ben, brought our foursome together,” VanderHenst said. “We were four men who knew nothing about each other and here we are almost 30 years later still playing together. What an amazing thing.”
Kuyper senior development representative Peter DeBoer echoed those remarks.
“Ben was very good at convincing his friends and business associates to play in and contribute to the event,” he said with a chuckle. “And he and his family have been a consistent force in helping to make our golf outing the success it is today.”
The 2024 event drew almost 120 golfers and was expected to raise some $70,000 for the Ambassador Scholarship Fund.
Kuyper chief advancement officer Jim Steenbergen noted the importance of those dollars in making a life-changing Kuyper education available for international students, many of whom could not attend without the financial assistance.
He also noted the importance of the event in bringing people together.
“This event is such a great chance for people to reconnect, and for us as College employees to spend a little time catching up with alumni and friends of the College as a new school year is about to begin.”
One of those College employees was President Patti Harris who was on hand for the entire event, greeting golfers as they arrived, engaging in earnest conversations, providing an opening prayer and welcoming remarks and being present on the course during the afternoon’s 18 holes to make sure every single golfer had a chance to say hello.
Like the many other Kuyper students and employees who were on hand as volunteers, Harris too was smiling from ear to ear as she took in the scene around her.
