Home Builders Association Tees It Up for Charity

SAN ANGELO, TX-- On a cloudless, 70-degree Tuesday, golfers from six different Home Builders Associations (HBAs) across west Texas converged on the San Angelo Country Club for the second-annual Builders Six West Golf Tournament.

All proceeds from the tournament will go toward the Texas Builders Foundation with the Texas Association of Builders, according to Executive Officer for the San Angelo Home Builders Association Kristen Oliver. The foundation funds scholarships for students going into the construction trades industry.

"We're trying to get as many students funded into the construction trades industry as possible," Oliver said.

Executive Director of the Texas Association of Builders Scott Norman said there's a real labor shortage in the state and that the funds raised at the tournament would help combat that shortage through the scholarships. 

HBAs from Abilene, El Paso, Lubbock, Midland, and San Antonio traveled to San Angelo for the tournament.

Mike Biggerstaff, Chairman of the Texas Builders Foundation and San Angelo Native, was on hand for the second installment tournament.

"[The tournament] has grown since last year," Biggerstaff said. "The people that come to these things are people that really care."

Biggerstaff would go on to emphasize the growth of the scholarships for students pursuing a career in the construction industry.

"The Texas Builders Foundation makes that a reality," Biggerstaff added.

The tournament has grown exponentially from their first year to their second.

"Last year, we were able to raise and donate $6,000," said Texas Association of Builders Area Vice-President Adrian Balderas.

"This golf tournament will raise between $15,000 and $20,000 for the foundation," Biggerstaff said.

It wasn't all business for everyone at the golf course on Tuesday, however.  Norman, who made the drive from Austin, cracked a joke, saying that being at the golf course "beats being in the office."

Participants were eyeing a couple of prizes offered at the tournament. A raffle was going on for a Polaris General ATV that is "bad to the bone" according to Mike Biggerstaff. Participants also had a chance to win a brand new GMC Canyon if they were to hit a hole-in-one on hole 10.

When asked about the competition, Biggerstaff looked across from him and joked saying that the San Antonio team was his biggest competition.

The team who finishes in first will win the association's traveling trophy for the tournament, while the last place team would go home with a bronze toilet bowl trophy.