The dark and chilly autumn morning of Oct. 10 did not stop this year’s golf enthusiasts from taking part in the 4th edition of the AUBG & Friends Fundraising Golf Tournament. Nearly 30 golfers, as well as faculty, staff, alumni, and donors took part in the event that aims to collect funds for scholarships for AUBG students.
“Despite this year’s challenges, our community has remained strong,” said AUBG interim president Dr. David Evans. “This year we have awarded quite a bit of extra financial aid to students whose families have been adversely affected by the coronavirus.”
He proceeded to thank all the sponsors at the event: Raiffeisen Property Holding; Glarus Beer – founded and run by AUBG alumni; Logodaj Winery & Vineyards; Pepsi; Prestige; Lilov Dent; Chipita; Hotel InterContinental Sofia; H2O; Nestlé; and Pirin Golf Country Club.
“I think AUBG […] is a one-of-a-kind university,” said Adina Welsh, executive director at Raiffeisen Property Management, the biggest sponsor at the event. “I know through business quite a lot of AUBG graduates, and it felt like the right university to support.”
The advice she would give to anyone who aspires to build a successful career was simply “hard work”. “You make your own luck in life. And if you keep looking for opportunities, you’ll find that they find you.”
The players were divided into two divisions according to the widespread Stableford format. Special Awards were awarded to Ana-Maria Valkanova for “longest drive” and to Stoyan Pandev for “nearest to the pin”. Pandev and Stefan Pavlov both shared the same points, but due to a difference in results on the last hole, they won third and second place in Division 1 respectively. Evo Stefanov won the grand prize in the category.
AUBG EMBA alumnus Slaveyko Dzhambazov and Zlatan Zlatanov won third and second place in Division 2 respectively, and first place went to AUBG sophomore Vladimir Petrunov.
“It was a lot better this year,” said the sophomore, who came in 12th place last year. “I definitely did not expect it.” He was very pleased with his win and shared that he used to be afraid of signing up for competitive events because he feared failure. His advice: “At the end of the day, this is a game – one person wins and another one loses. You should always try at least.”
Nadejda Michkova, main organizer of this event, was very pleased with the sum raised from the tournament and with the way it turned out.
“I was happy that people came and that they were happy with our organization of the event,” she said. “Everything went really smoothly and so I’m very pleased.”
According to her, the tournament is steadily gaining popularity, so she is optimistic that in the future even more people will be attracted to donate funds.
“Thank you for your support at AUBG, it’s so meaningful to all of us,” said Dr.Evans in his closing remarks at the award ceremony. “I’m sure a lot of you know that our students go out and do some really spectacular things.”
A special guest and Dr. Evans’ “quarantine buddy” was the 5-month old puppy Cosmo, who was friendly with the guests and happy to be at the event.
