Left to right – Sam, Luke, Josh, Chris, Howie, Rich, Ryan, Reid, Ethan
The Burkholder family profile originally appeared in our September 2023 newsletter. The Burkholders who joined the event in 2007 became a select group of FATS families when they added a second group in 2012.
Here is the Burkholder family profile as it appeared in our September 2023 newsletter:
The Burkholder clan as seen at the 2023 Father and Three Sons event at Whirlpool GC in Niagara
We were first introduced to the Father and Three Sons tournament by the Clugston family! We were excited about this idea to connect with family and others through one of our favourite sports, golf. Even though the tournament is organized around golf, we completely acknowledge & and agree with the tournament’s motto: It’s not about golf, it’s about family.
Howie (our dad), myself, Rich and Ryan joined for the first time in 2007 at Tangle Creek in Barrie. It was a fabulous start. That year, despite Dad’s battle with Parkinson’s, he beat all three of us. His speech later that night was, “I’ve really enjoyed golfing with my sons this year… but what I enjoyed the most… was beating them all!” We have attended every year since. One more golf highlight for us boys was experiencing the standing ovation Howie received when accepting the award for winning the Long Drive for the Fathers in 2017.
In 2012 I came for the first time with my three sons, Josh, Luke and Sam as the second Burkholder family. This doubled our enjoyment!
Recently, it’s become apparent that Dad’s health has declined to the point that his golfing involvement in this tournament is limited. Ryan’s two boys, Reid and Ethan have been subbing in some. My brothers, my sons, my nephews and myself are really cherishing this time that we still have with Dad/Papa.
We’d like to thank the tournament founders for maintaining the traditions of the tournament which contributed to the awesome experience had by all. We especially want to thank Gary, the Board and the sponsor for the recent changes to further improve the tournament & and experience. We feel blessed to have been involved with the FATS over the years, and the memories & and friendships new & and old from this event.
As always, we are looking forward to the tournament & and the family scramble next year!
Cheers,
Chris Burkholder, on behalf of the Burkholder families
the Burkholders are part of a very select group inside Father and Three Sons that have been able to enter two groups into the event. I had the privilege of playing with Howie a few years ago and we had a totally enjoyable day. It is great to have the Burkholders as part of our event.