Bob Rosencrans

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The legacy of former Wittenberg University student-athlete, coach and athletic department administrator Bob Rosencrans, class of 1958, continues to grow two years after his passing. Rosy's Golf Outing, held annually in Rosecrans' honor, enters its third year with a new purpose.

All proceeds of the event in 2003, held about two months before Rosencrans' passing, and 2004 went to the Western Ohio Chapter of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, to fund ongoing research. In 2005, all proceeds from the event, which is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 4 at Windy Knoll Golf Club in Springfield, will go to his alma mater to help finance construction of the Bob Rosencrans Hall of Honor Fitness Center, the newest addition to the university's HPER Center scheduled to be completed next month.

In the future, proceeds of Rosy's Golf Outing will be split evenly between the Western Ohio Chapter of ALS and Wittenberg, which will use the money to continue making improvements in and around the fitness center.

The Bob Rosencrans Hall of Honor Fitness Center is the centerpiece of a $2 million athletic facilities improvement project, which also includes new strength training and cardiovascular exercise equipment for both the new fitness center and the existing weight room facility in the HPER Center, re-surfacing of the Earl F. Morris Track, a new synthetic grass surface for Edwards-Maurer Field, and aesthetic improvements to the lobby of the HPER Center and the Edwards-Maurer Field pressbox.

The fitness center will add 4,622 square feet of space to the front of the HPER Center, and it will be filled with state-of-the-art fitness equipment available for use by anyone in the Wittenberg community.

Rosencrans was a three-year letterwinner on the football team, and he later spent 25 years at Wittenberg as an assistant football coach, head golf, men's swimming and diving and wrestling coach and athletic director from 1970-95. A member of the Athletics Hall of Honor Class of 2000, Rosencrans became an advocate for ALS research, and his friends and family helped him organize Rosy's Golf Outing.

The 2005 event starts at 11:30 a.m. with a buffet lunch provided by Mike and Rosy's, the local restaurant that Rosencrans co-founded and owned across the street from the university's athletic complex, before golfers hit the course with a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start. Several golf skill contests and a silent auction will bring the event to a close.

The entry fee is $125 per player, and the entry deadline is July 21. The field for the four-man scramble event is limited to the first 120 players, with each team starting out with a cumulative handicap of at least 40. Each team will be assigned a golf professional, who will play his or her own ball.

The chairman of the 2005 event is Dan D'Arrigo, Wittenberg class of 1978 and one of the owners of Windy Knoll, a links-style course that opened in 2002. The par-71, 18-hole course plays 6,800 yards from the professional tees.

To participate in Rosy's Golf Outing, call Jim Neff, Windy Knoll golf professional, at (937) 390-8898 or Ken Benne, associate director of university advancement and alumni relations at Wittenberg, at (937) 327-6366. Benne can also be reached via e-mail at kbenne@wittenberg.edu.