Golf is a great form of physical activity.  According to the Mayo Clinic, most golfers, walking an 18-hole course, take over 10,000 steps; the equivalent of walking over 4.4 miles.

Although the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews is considered to be the birth place of golf in 1754, the early Romans played a game very similar like golf by hitting a feather-stuffed ball with club-shaped tree branches.

Pictures in books also show the Dutch playing a similar type of game on their frozen canals during the 1500's. Cross-country versions of the game were also popular in France and Belgium.

Masonic Lodges all over the United States host many tournaments annually for a number of great causes!

Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity (a national college fraternity with a local chapter, California Phi at Fresno State) has invited members of Las Palmas-Ponderosa Lodge to play in their golf tournament this fall.  This is a great opportunity for Masons to enjoy playing golf, while building relationships with a good group of young men in our local community, and donating to charity.

On Sunday, October 4, 2009, Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) will host its 10th Annual Nathan D. Fullerton Golf Tournament at Riverside Golf Club in Fresno, with a shotgun start beginning at 8:00am.

Nathan D. Fullerton, was charter member and leading force in the SigEp California Phi Chapter, and passed away on August 22, 1999 at the age of 25 after a valiant two-year battle with cancer.  The Brotherhood of Sigma Phi Epsilon has chosen this event in memory of Nathan, of which a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Heart Association.

The individual registration cost to play in the tournament is $100.00, or $400 to register a group of four team members.  This will include your green fees, a power cart, and lunch following the event.  The chosen format for the tournament is a four-person scramble and various prizes will be awarded for the longest drive, closest-to-the-pin, best round, and shortest drive.  The raffle for prizes donated from local Fresno businesses will take place throughout the day.

If you are interested in playing in the golf tournament or attending the luncheon following the event, please RSVP no later than Friday, September 25, 2009.  Registration forms are available by clicking here, and should be mailed with a check to the address on the form.  Or you can e-mail Tom Weil for more information.  Space permitting, open registration will also be available the day of the event beginning at 7:00 a.m. at Riverside Golf Club. 

If you are unable to play golf, but would still like to attend the luncheon, the cost is $15.00.  Simply e-mail Tom Weil so that we know how many meals to prepare.

SigEp is also accepting tournament sponsorships donations at the following levels:

• Heart of Gold: $200 - This includes a plaque, a tee box sponsorship, and special recognition during the luncheon following the golf tournament.
• Tee Box Sponsorship: $50 - This includes a sign located at one of the holes, which designates the individual sponsor or the name of your business.

To sponsor the tournament, please use the registration form, and mail your information to the address on the form along with a check.

Sigma Phi Epsilon, commonly called SigEp, was founded on November 1, 1901 at Richmond College (currently known as the University of Richmond) and its national headquarters remains in Richmond, Virginia.  It is the largest social fraternity in the United States in terms of current undergraduate membership, the fourth largest in terms of total members initiated, and has the highest first year retention rate of 92%.

Like many college fraternities, Sigma Phi Epsilon's principles were influenced by Masonic traditions.  One of the twelve founders of SigEp, William Lazell "Uncle Billy" Phillips, was raised to the degree of Master Mason on Nov 22, 1897, in Nutley Masonic Lodge 25, New Jersey, at the age of 23 before attending Richmond College in 1901.

Three other founders of SigEp went on to become Freemasons after college; William Hugh Carter was raised in the Chase City Lodge 119, in Virginia in 1904; Thomas Temple Wright was raised a Master Mason in Warsaw-Bauman Lodge 322, in Virgina in 1922; and Thomas Vaden McCaul was a Master Mason, a Royal Arch Mason, and Knight Templar, as reported in the Sigma Phi Epsilon Journal in 1960.

During the 1907 Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity conclave, the fraternity adopted a ritual "grounded" in the classic "Book of Common Prayer" and Freemasonry.

The local chapter at Fresno State University is known as California Phi, and was first established on campus in 1993.  The group officially received their charter from the national organization in 1995.  California Phi currently has approximately 60 members, and an alumni base of over 250.

SigEp is involved in a number of philanthropies, including fund raising for the American Heart Association, and Youth AIDS, an education and prevention program reaching out to 600 million young people in more than 60 countries with life-saving messages, products, services about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.