From Carnegie Mellon University Athletics
The Carnegie Mellon Athletics community had reason to celebrate
on Monday, October 13, as the department announced the creation of
an endowed fund to support the men's golf program. Ronald Low and
Wanda Denson-Low, parents of senior golfer Cameron Low, made a
gift of $100,000 to establish The Coach Richard Erdelyi Endowed
Fund for the Men's Golf Team.
"This is a transformative gift for the men's golf program," said
Director of Athletics Josh Centor. "It will provide us with the
flexibility to enhance the educational experience of our young men
at Carnegie Mellon. It has already served others as an inspiration
to contribute to the endowment and will motivate others to work
towards establishing other funds of this nature."
At an event held at the Cohon University Center (CUC) Monday
evening, the announcement was made by Centor. Senior
co-captain Justin Fischler discussed his experience
playing for Coach Erdelyi and his time at Carnegie Mellon.
"It is your [donors'] generosity that makes the experience for me
and my teammates such a great one," Fischler said. "Coach [Erdelyi]
taught us a lot of lessons on the course, but he also taught us a
lot off the course; how to be respectful and have good manners. He
cared about each of us individually at a much higher level than
just our golf games."
Erdelyi, who retired in June, expressed his gratitude to the Lows
in his remarks.
"This ensures golf at Carnegie Mellon forever. I really believe
that," Erdelyi said. "I am honored and humbled; I am honored to
have my name on this endowment. I am humbled that you [Ronald and
Wanda] and Cameron would think enough of me to do this. I mean that
from the bottom of my heart. I love this program and this
school [Carnegie Mellon]."
Centor went on to thank the Low family for their vision and
leadership before introducing Ronald Low, who talked about the
first time he met Coach Erdelyi.
"There are those who coach for a living and then there are those
whose life is being a coach, that is Coach Erd," Low said. "It is
those kinds of people that understand where the game ends and
reality begins."
"Our generosity and our gift on behalf of our family is a tribute
to the coach because I understand very well what it means to him
and this university. As he spent time and life blood to help grow
this program it was also his intent to grow the young men and women
that came through this university and whose paths he crossed. This
fund is a way to continue to grow the program."
During Erdelyi's tenure as head coach, the men's golf team won the
University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship in 2009 and
finished 22nd in the nation, competing for the first time in the
NCAA Championship. Erdelyi was named UAA Golf Coach of the Year in
1998, 2006, 2009 and 2013, and he mentored Carnegie Mellon students
who became UAA Golf Individual Medalists in 1995, 2006, 2007, and
2009. He coached 16 All-America Scholars of the Golf Coaches
Association of America, three CoSIDA Capital One Academic
All-Americans, nine All-Region golfers and one All-American. His
2009-10 and 2013-14 teams had the highest GPA in Division III.