Former CU Coach Gary Barnett to play in this year’s Cougar Classic

Former University of Colorado Head Football Coach Gary Barnett will be the guest of honor at the fifth annual Cougar Classic golf tournament, hosted by the Niwot Touchdown Club.

Barnett, a friend of the Niwot football program and former Niwot resident now living in Gunbarrel, reached out to second-year head coach Jeremy Lanter late last year to offer advice for overcoming a winless season. In 1996, Barnett co-authored High Hopes: Taking the Purple to Pasadena, a memoir of his third season as head coach of the Northwestern University Wildcats that ended with their first appearance in the Rose Bowl since 1949. He also offered to play with Lanter and the team at this year’s Classic, which is slated for Friday, Aug. 3 at Twin Peaks golf course in Longmont.

Another familiar face to Cougar fans at the tournament will be Ron Stedman, who recently accepted an assistant coaching position offered by Lanter. Stedman was a longtime assistant coach at Niwot, his alma mater, primarily under former Coach Paul “Tiny” Koehler.

This year, the team is hoping to raise enough money to purchase a full set of headgear wired with Riddell Insite, an impact monitoring system that records data about frequency and intensity of contact for individual players and notifies coaches in real-time. According to Lanter, the Insite system addresses a key concern for players and parents.

“We can then focus our training down to a player-by-player basis to tailor who should be involved in certain drills and live time throughout the week,” Lanter explained. “It really is an incredible system that is changing the way that we help keep kids as safe as possible. The more information that we have about what we do will allow us to better serve families.”

The non-profit Touchdown Club is looking for golfers, sponsors and volunteers for this family-friendly event, which kicks off with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Tournament entries are $350 per foursome or $100 per individual. For $200, players can reserve their chance to play their round with the guest of honor.

“There are two or three spots left in Gary Barnett’s foursome,” Touchdown Club President Kelley Matthews said. “Get them while you can.”

With the registration fee, all players receive breakfast from Chick-fil-A, an 18-hole round of golf, riding cart, lunch, and a special gift bag. Coach Barnett will be on hand throughout the day, including at the post-event luncheon.

Matthews said that this year’s classic has attracted some big name corporate underwriters, including Pollard Jeep, which is sponsoring a Hole-in-One Car contest. The first player to hit a hole-in-one during the Cougar Classic will drive home in a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee, courtesy of the Boulder-based dealership.

There are still sponsor slots available, starting as low as $200 for the Special Teams Shared Tee Sponsor, which includes tee-box and golf cart signage, recognition at the awards reception, and year round advertising on the Niwot football site. For $800, companies can be an Offensive or Defensive Sponsor, which includes all of the aforementioned, plus the price of a foursome for the day, a signed football and team picture, and special recognition at home football games during the 2018 season.

If a sponsorship is out of reach, the Club is also in need of donations. Matthews said they are specifically looking for gift certificates and other items to stock in tournament giveaway bags.

“In the past, we’ve had a dentist give away toothbrushes,” she said. “Golf tees, hand towels, any promotional materials you might have on hand.”

For more information about the Cougar Classic, or to learn more about helping out the Niwot Touchdown Club, contact Kelley Matthews at 720-383-2680. To register for the tournament, go to http://www.niwottouchdown.org/sign-up/.