Crofoot Cup All About Fun and Friendships

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Before Curtis Yonke grew to become co-Founder and CEO of Freedom Behavioral Health Solutions – a Manhattan-based psychological well being care supplier – and earlier than Yonke was a four-year letterwinner on the Kansas State males’s golf crew, Yonke was a middle-schooler dwelling in Lubbock, Texas, swinging golf golf equipment with a sort gentleman in his 70s. They grew to become buddies and loved weekly golf outings.

 

The man’s identify? Jay Crofoot.

 

Crofoot, a local of Cedar Point, Chase County, Kansas, lived an incredible life. After serving within the Army for 18 months, he joined his father and brother within the household cattle and farming enterprise, Crofoot Cattle Company. Jay and his spouse, Jinny, lived in Elmdale, Strong City and Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, then moved to Arizona, after which again to Cottonwood Falls. In 1971, they moved to Lubbock, the place Jay joined his father and his son, Terry, in enterprise at Lubbock Feed Lots.

 

There was one thing else about Jay Crofoot that was fairly unimaginable — his love for each Ok-State and Texas Tech. He served on the TTU Athletic Advisory Council and helped set up the Knight Scholarship Foundation. He additionally was a Colbert Hills Founder and Hall of Fame member, and previous president and director of the Flint Hills Rodeo Association.

 

“Curtis and Jay Crofoot had a regular golf schedule,” Steve Yonke says, “and it sparked a friendship.”

 

Eventually, it additionally sparked an concept inside Steve, Curtis’ father and son-in-law of Ok-State and PGA Tour nice Jim Colbert. Steve, a local of Overland Park, Kansas, moved his household to Lubbock in 2007, and was properly linked inside the Lubbock group.  

 

“How about a golf tournament?” Steve Yonke thought.

 

Yes, a golf match. After all, Ok-State and Texas Tech individuals had been good individuals and had like-minded fan bases. The Crofoots and Yonkes might attest to that. And the golf match, meant to mix the camaraderie of faculty soccer with the spirit of aggressive golf, could possibly be an annual occasion — Ok-State versus Texas Tech — to be performed a day or two previous to the Ok-State/Texas Tech soccer sport.

 

“That’s where it got started,” Steve Yonke says. “It got started with a kid playing golf with an older gentleman, they had a regular golf game they played, got to know one another, and we got to know them, and the idea was a way to honor that family for all they’ve done for two schools. It’s not only been a way over the years to honor them but a way to have fun together, too.”

 

The match grew to become often known as the “Crofoot Cup,” to honor Jay and Jinny Crofoot, who additionally supported numerous athletics applications and academic scholarships at each Ok-State and Texas Tech. As somebody who was captivated with serving to others and growing friendships, Jay sponsored the match.
 
“It remains a tradition, and it’s very gratifying to see where it’s gone and the camaraderie that’s developed between the donors at K-State and Texas Tech,” says Terry Crofoot, Jay’s son and a 1969 Ok-State graduate. Jay handed away at age 91 in 2018.
 
“It’s not just a once-the-year thing, if these guys are in the neighborhood, they get together and have dinner,” Terry says. “It’s pretty special.”
 
This yr’s Crofoot Cup is fairly particular as properly.
 
The 2025 Crofoot Cup marks the 21^st yr of this storied competitors. Over 160 people have represented Ok-State for the reason that occasion started, and Texas Tech has seen greater than 130 members compete over time. For greater than 20 years, the Crofoot Cup has grown into a convention constructed on competitors, friendship, and a shared assist of collegiate golf.
 
“This event has been nothing short of great — not just for Colbert Hills but for K-State and Texas Tech men’s and women’s golf, which we’re supporting through the event,” says Tracer Paul, who’s in his fourth yr as Executive Director of Kansas State University Golf Course Management and Research Foundation. “This yr we’ll go over $408,000 raised for each males’s and ladies’s golf applications for Ok-State and Texas Tech.
 
“I don’t know if there’s another event out there that creates a partnership like we have with both universities and fan bases while raising money for the golf programs.”
 
While each side play to win, the occasion ensures that the golf applications from each colleges profit financially, fostering long-term goodwill and connection between the colleges. The cash raised on the Crofoot Cup is yearly divided up so 60% goes to the profitable college and 40% goes to that yr’s loser.
 

First spherical of the Crofoot Cup will probably be Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at Colbert Hills Golf Club in Manhattan, Kansas, with the second spherical beginning Friday at 9:00 a.m. Each crew from each colleges will include a record-high 40 golfers. Among the golfers are a number of who’ve performed in all 21 tournaments, one whose performed in 15, two who’ve performed in 10, and 4 who’ve performed in 5.
 
Curtis Yonke and Kyle, his youthful brother, will take part within the Crofoot Cup this yr.  
 
“The goal is to continue to grow,” Paul says. “When you get new blood into the event, it’s always exciting because we don’t want the event to go away. We were scared last year when we found out we weren’t going to play Texas Tech in football during the 2024 season, because the event is centered around the football game. This is a sustainable tournament, and people are going to continue to support it, which is really important.”
 
Steve Yonke has observed a pattern over time: The residence golf crew often wins the Crofoot Cup.
 
“Yes, the home team usually has a pretty good advantage,” he says, “and that’s mostly because the guys on the road have more fun.”
 
That the sphere consists of 40 golfers for every crew this yr?
 
“It’s 40 because Texas Tech thinks its football team is going to come up here and beat our butts this year,” Yonke says, laughing. “Texas Tech has a good following. They’re really great guys. It’s a pretty good thing. We take a lot of jabs back and forth all in friendly gamesmanship.”
 
In the tip, that is what The Crofoot Cup is all about: Fun and friendships.
 
“Being here since its inception, the thrill for me is to watch both sides enjoy the company of one another,” Yonke says. “I’m unsure there’s been a nasty phrase stated between us. It’s a real tribute and one I’m positive the Crofoot household is happy to see as properly.
 
“Name an event where you can honor somebody who’s been gracious enough to support two fine institutions, where you can have alumni represent their school, and enjoy one another’s company, build friendships.”
 

Terry Crofoot has nice reminiscences of the occasion over time.
 
“I always look forward to it,” Crofoot says. “I get to see old friends from up there. We’ve made a lot of great, great friends over the years — the Vaniers for a couple generations, and Ernie Barrett was a good friend and always looked forward to getting together.”
 
Crofoot pauses.
 
“I look at the event from maybe a little different perspective,” he says. “I like to look at it as an opportunity to honor my dad for his contributions.”
 
It began years in the past with a center schooler and a gentleman in his 70s, some fifty years aside, having fun with the game they love.
 
It’s become a outstanding annual occasion that includes supporters from two like-minded colleges and one golf course.  
 
And a supply for friendships and reminiscences for years to come back.