Why the Class 2 Gathering Starts With a Charity Golf Tournament that Raises $100k to Benefit the Boys & Girls Club of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
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After nearly three decades with Prairie Band Casino and Resort in Mayetta, Kansas, Ashley Bergquist knows charity golf tournaments inside and out. As Promotions, Events, and Entertainment Manager, she’s managed countless golf events at the casino’s golf facility, Firekeeper Golf Course, from VIP outings to charity tournaments.
Today, Ashley also serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Club of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, giving her a unique perspective on both the operational and charitable sides of golf fundraising events. And that experience has helped shape one of the most unique tournaments in the tribal gaming industry.
The Class 2 Gathering raises funds to support the Boys and Girls Club of the Potawatomi Nation.
Class 2 Gathering
The standalone Boys and Girls Club event became part of the Class 2 Gathering (C2G), a nationwide gaming conference, held at Prairie Band Casino & Resort. The result is a golf tournament that brings together casino operators, vendors, exhibitors, and sponsors from the community and across the country—all while raising funds for local Boys and Girls Club programs.
The strategy has proven to be a win for everyone involved. The tournament serves as the kickoff to the conference, giving attendees the chance to network on the course before moving into educational conference sessions. The tournament concludes with a combined launch party and awards celebration featuring raffles, a silent auction, food trucks, sponsor recognition, and additional fundraising.
“It’s really a two-for-one opportunity,” Ashley says. “By combining the conference and the tournament, we’re able to bring people together who might not have attended the golf event otherwise.”
the challenge
Before combining with C2G, the Boys and Girls Club held its own charity golf outing. And like many nonprofit golf fundraisers, much of the administrative work was done manually.
Registrations came in through phone calls and invoices, and credit card payments had to be processed individually. Team rosters lived in static spreadsheets, and any changes required updating multiple documents. Tournament materials, like scorecards, signage, and player lists, had to be recreated with every last-minute change.
Ashley says that because of these manual processes, the tournament could really only be managed by one person. “Otherwise, there were too many chances for things to get mixed up.” When the event was paired with the national C2G conference, those manual processes became even more of a challenge.
The tournament’s audience was different than a traditional community fundraiser. Instead of recruiting local golfers, Ashley needed to coordinate:
Casino operators from across the country
Tribal gaming vendors and suppliers
Conference exhibitors
National sponsors
Local business partners
Many participants had to travel to attend, so final player names weren’t confirmed until the week of or even the day before the tournament. That meant materials needed to stay flexible.
What’s more, Ashley wanted the event to deliver an experience worthy of the investment people were making to attend. Every detail matters, from the registration experience and pace of play to sponsor recognition and the post-round celebration. “We’re not trying to be the biggest tournament out there,” Ashley says. “We’re trying to be the tournament that people want to come back to.”
the solution
When C2G assumed responsibility for the annual tournament, Ashley was introduced to GolfStatus by the Firekeeper Golf Course’s general manager. The timing couldn’t have been better.
Instead of juggling spreadsheets and manually collecting payments, the tournament could move to one centralized platform where registration, player management, sponsorships, scoring, and administration all worked together.
An event website eliminated manual registration processes and made it easy to manage teams and sponsors.
The results
Fundraising Outcomes
The combination of thoughtful planning, a built-in conference audience, and streamlined tournament management has helped the event build momentum each year. The fundraiser generated more than $129,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, which helps fund:
Educational opportunities
Youth trips and enrichment activities
Scholarships and tuition assistance
Facility improvements
Updated equipment and resources
General operating support that helps local children thrive
Immediate Value
Ashley immediately saw the value in GolfStatus. “Why wouldn’t I use this?” she says. Golfers register and pay online, and update teammates as plans change. “The platform is easy to use. I send the website to people, and they take it from there. I don’t have to take time to enter information.”
For Ashley, one of the biggest advantages isn’t just online registration—it’s flexibility. “If something changes the day of the tournament, it’s easy to reprint signs, alpha lists, scorecards, everything.” Instead of needing to recreate tournament materials manually, the information already exists inside the platform. “It saves so much time, I can literally just click print,” Ashley says.
Each GolfStatus client works directly with a dedicated Client Success Representative and has access to a Fundraising Specialist and live support seven days a week.
“It’s just so easy. The people are great to work with, they understand golf tournaments, and they can give advice because they’ve actually done it.”
Sponsor Opportunities & Management
Thoughtful sponsor recruitment has helped the tournament continue to grow. Rather than cold-calling prospective sponsors, Ashley begins with businesses already participating in the conference. Exhibitors, sponsors, vendors, and longtime business partners become natural prospects because they’re already planning to attend.
Timing also matters. Ashley intentionally releases the event’s sponsorship offerings before companies finalize annual budgets. “By getting sponsorship information to businesses early, they can plan and budget for the tournament ahead of time, giving them a much better chance of securing approval and participating,” Ashley says. This strategy has helped secure significant sponsor commitments, including a five-year title sponsorship from a local Pepsi distributor.
Releasing sponsorship offerings as early as possible has helped the tournament secure sponsor commitments.
GolfStatus simplified sponsor management and elevated the sponsorship offerings with its exclusive Technology Sponsorship, plus a pin flag sponsorship and hole-in-one contest sponsorship.
Custom pin flags are not only used on the course, but also as sponsor recognition pieces. The tournament presents each hole sponsor with a pin flag following the event. Sponsors attending the awards celebration receive theirs in person, while those unable to attend receive their flag in the mail. “Pin flags are a great keepsake!” Ashley says. “I have one hanging on my office wall.”
A Memorable Experience
While many fundraising tournaments focus on maximizing the number of golfers, C2G intentionally limits the field to 144 golfers to create a premium experience. “We could probably squeeze in more golfers, but we’d rather have a great pace of play and have people leave saying it was the most fun tournament they played all year.”
This philosophy has helped the tournament become a highlight of the annual C2G conference. Every player receives high-end gifts, including items like premium sunglasses, Bluetooth speakers, and other golf accessories, plus casino free play and gift cards. Ashley says that in her experience, practical gifts outperform novelty items. “When people actually use your player gifts during other tournaments, it’s free advertising for your event.”
Custom pin flags help elevate the tournament experience for golfers and sponsors.
Fundraising & Engagement
One of the biggest successes has been expanding fundraising opportunities beyond the golf course itself. Because the tournament flows directly into the conference kickoff celebration, participants who only attend the conference still become part of the fundraising experience.
Throughout the evening, attendees purchase raffle tickets, participate in the silent auction, and celebrate tournament winners together. That broader audience of conference attendees creates new fundraising streams and supporters that simply didn’t exist when the tournament stood on its own.
On the course, Ashley looks for engaging activities that everyone can enjoy, including:
Four hole-in-one contest holes
A golf ball cannon, which is included in registration
Closest to the pin competition
A second-shot hole-in-one challenge hosted by a Charity Golf International professional long-driver (which generated $2,500 for the Boys and Girls Club)
One of Ashley’s goals is to keep golfers there for the post-round celebration. Many tournaments lose attendees immediately after golf ends, but Ashley has built an experience worth sticking around for, with food, drinks, entertainment, and fundraising.
The result? An event that feels less like waiting for scores and more like the official kickoff to the conference and celebration of the golf tournament.
The post-golf celebration and Class 2 Gathering kickoff features performances from members of the Potawatomi Nation.
Advice to Other Casino Operators
For casinos considering launching their own charitable golf tournament or adding one to an existing conference or other event, Ashley offers one simple piece of advice: Play in other tournaments first.
“Go experience them as a golfer. Figure out what you like and don’t like, then build the tournament you’d want to play.”
She also encourages casinos to recognize the unique inherent advantages they have, which naturally support a successful fundraising event:
Championship golf courses
Experienced hospitality teams
Food and beverage options
Entertainment
Established vendor relationships
Beyond raising money, a charity golf tournament showcases the property’s amenities, strengthens relationships with vendors and partners, and creates meaningful support for important community organizations. For C2G, that means investing in the next generation through the Boys and Girls Club.
With GolfStatus helping simplify tournament operations, Ashley can spend less time managing spreadsheets and more time creating the experience golfers look forward to every year.
As C2G and the tournament continue to grow, the focus remains the same: offer an exceptional experience, foster relationships across the gaming industry, and generate meaningful support for local youth—one great round of golf at a time.
Boost Golf Tournament Results With GolfStatus
GolfStatus works with golf tournaments of all types and sizes, from small nonprofit events to massive charity fundraisers. Its tech streamlines and simplifies registration, payment processing, player management, sponsor onboarding, scoring, and much more. The software is backed by an in-house team of golf fundraising professionals, and all tournaments have access to exclusive Fundraising Enhancers and Rewards, as well as consultations with Fundraising Specialists. Get started at no upfront cost by booking a meeting with our team.
