The 40th Annual Moose’s Loose Golf Tournament, benefiting athletes of the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, will be held on Wednesday, September 18th with a shot-gun tee off at 12:15pm. Hosted by Olympian Jim “Moose” Barrows and the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, this fundraiser includes 18 holes, 2 carts per team, beverages, and an awards presentation at Slopeside Grill afterwards. 

Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club will once again be the competition course.  Each year, more than 100 participants of all ability levels join in the festivities in order to raise scholarship funds for athletes competing with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. The idea of the tournament blossomed 40 years ago, and reflects Moose’s own past as a Steamboat youth and athlete of the SSWSC. As an award recipient from the Rocky Mountain News himself at a young age, Moose understands the benefits of athletic scholarships.  For many, it can be critical in allowing them to participate and compete in winter sports, instilling a healthy lifestyle and establishing important life-skills. For Moose, it was the beginning of a road that led to his goals of attending the 1968 Olympics.

At the age of 5, Moose Barrows joined the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club as a ski jumper. He quickly found passion in ski racing, where he found himself a standout on the race course. Thanks to his first scholarship, he was able to purchase a pair of used skis to begin his Olympic race career.

With 40 years under his belt as host for the Moose’s Loose Fundraiser, the determination and grit used to build his athletic successes as an Olympian have also been used in his philanthropic outreach to the community. In 2016, the Steamboat Pilot and Today reported on Moose’s successful recovery of surgery to remove multiple brain tumors. That year, despite his hardships, still saw the continuation of the Moose’s Loose Golf tournament, and today, between continued cancer treatments, the tournament still goes on.

“Moose is an incredible liaison for the athletes of the SSWSC, and his heart is wrapped tightly into this tournament,” said SSWSC Executive Director Sarah Floyd. “Through thick and thin, regardless of his own life hurdles, Moose is constantly helping us to ensure that scholarships exist for those in need, and that no athlete is turned away.”

Moose’s passion and joy translates into the vibe of the entire tournament. While competitive clubs are swung on the grass, all ability levels show up to play, and the celebratory party afterwards showcases the jovial feel of the event; cheeky awards are handed out to those who are the best, even it’s the best at losing.

Over the past 20 years, Moose’s efforts through the Moose’s Loose Golf Tournament can be tracked as receiving over $200,000 towards the athletic scholarship fund. “It’s incredible to think about the decades that this event has spanned, and the multitude of athletes that his efforts have helped from that first pair of skis to Olympic successes,” Floyd said.
Participants can sign up to compete in next week’s tournament at sswsc.org/events/loosemoose.