Burger Time golf tournament looking forward to 23rd year

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Burger Time High School All-Activities Golf Tournament has been a staple in Las Cruces for more than two decades, providing funding for all sorts of high school sports, clubs, and organizations.

“We just decided 23 years ago to take the bull by the horns and just become part of the success that these coaches and these student-athletes have,” said Kevin McGrath, founder of the tournament.

McGrath says part of the reason he started the tournament was to help raise funds so that Las Cruces high schools could compete with teams from Albuquerque.

However, this year McGrath had the tough task of informing football coaches and boosters that they had been “over-funded” in previous years and that their funding would be slightly lower this year. McGrath wrote in a newspaper column addressed to the community that there were rumors the football programs had been cut off from funding entirely. He says that’s simply not true.

“So they are still gonna be funded through the foundation, but not at the level we have done in the past,” said McGrath.

Now, the football programs and booster clubs of Mayfield, Las Cruces, and O ate will do additional fundraising on their own to make up the difference.

“Fundraising is a tough thing to do,” said Ernest Viramontes, the athletic director for Las Cruces Public Schools. “Every program along with their booster club feels like they have to raise at a certain amount or level to help their program.”

Despite the misunderstandings that prompted the column from McGrath, there’s still plenty of optimism that the tournament will stick around for many years to come.

“This money will be here 100 years from now,” said McGrath.

“This community is a great community to be in, and they’re great supporters of athletics,” said Viramontes.

Last year, McGrath presented the community with a check for $306,000.