Congrats to this team of former Viking golfers — (left to right) Dylan Flock '21, Hunter Love '22, Dalton Love '19 and Alex Sierra '19 — for scoring the most birdies during the 2025 Accounting Golf Outing.
Teeing up tomorrow's accounting grads
Of course the numbers tell this story — it's about a successful scholarship fundraiser run by accountants.
Since 2009, Augustana’s annual Accounting Golf Outing has grown from a modest 37 golfers (five alumni) to 143 (91 alumni) on the course last spring.
“The outing now ‘sells out’ within a couple weeks after it’s announced,” said Eric Sandberg ’71, who has participated every year since 2014. “It’s a hot ticket to get. John Delaney has developed a fun, welcoming culture for alumni, students and friends of the college.”
"The fact that we have a core group return and new players join them every year tells us that the opportunity to build relationships and raise scholarship money while having fun is a good game plan."
Nearly 650 golfers, ranging in age from 18 to 86, have participated through the years. Most are Augustana accounting and business alumni and students, but biology, chemistry, history, math, public health and theatre alumni and others with an affinity for Augustana and golf have come to play.
Jacob Bobbitt ’09, Augustana’s assistant vice president of business and controller, has participated nearly every year (missing only the first one) and serves on the planning committee for the event.
Dick Castle ’56, who played golf for the Vikings in the 1950s, is also a regular.
“At one of our events, Dick donated his 1950s Augustana golf jacket to the college,” said Sandberg, the golf outing’s historian. “His gift and engagement is a fine example of a lifelong passion for the college and the game of golf.”
Building connections between current accounting students and accounting professionals, both alumni and non-alumni, was the initial goal of the event, according to Dr. John Delaney, professor of accounting and the unofficial “golf commissioner.”
In 2017, the event’s planning committee decided to also make the outing a fundraiser for merit scholarships for current accounting majors.
A total of $80,973 has been raised for scholarships in the past nine years. Nearly $15,000 was raised for 2025-2026 scholarships last spring.
More than half of the accounting majors at Augustana receive financial assistance from merit scholarships from the department’s endowment and fundraising activities. The golf outing provides for one-third of these scholarship dollars, according to Dr. Delaney.
“We never could have anticipated the success the golf outing has had, in terms of reconnecting alumni and connecting alumni with students,” Dr. Delaney said. “But the fact that we have a core group return and new players join them every year tells us that the opportunity to build relationships and raise scholarship money while having fun is a good game plan.”