Tartan Open Brings Community Together in Support of Financial Aid Program

A day of fun, fellowship and a great round of golf with friends brought 130 supporters of St. Margaret’s together for the Tartan Open, an annual fundraiser supporting St. Margaret’s students.

 

The tournament took place at El Niguel Country Club and raised more than $80,000 for the school’s need-based Financial Aid program, which works to make the opportunities of St. Margaret’s accessible to capable and talented students from all socioeconomic backgrounds.

 

The 130 participants—parents, alumni, parents of alumni, grandparents and other Tartan supporters—is an all-time high for the long-running event. Together, the golfers enjoyed a beautiful day, interacting with fellow Tartan supporters in the clubhouse, on the course and afterward at a 19^th-hole reception and dinner in the El Niguel Clubhouse. There, an awards ceremony and live auction took place, live auction and raffle winners were announced.

 

St. Margaret’s is grateful for the sponsors who made this event possible: OC Pace by Innovative Integrated Health (Abe and Ghanim Marouf), Tom’s Famous Family Restaurants (Georgia and George Valaskantjis), Parriott Wood (Sean Su), Chatow Law (Kristina and Mark Chatow), Blue Sky (Channing and Jimmy Freeman), CFP Compak Asset Management (Javad Ansari), The Glowacki Firm (John Glowacki), Roger Dunn Hawaii (Benn McCallister), VNEG Property Management (Peter Valaskantjis), Graves Construction (Anthony Graves), Travelers Choice (Roger Yang), Mercedes Laguna Niguel, Cotti Foods, KCOMM (Sinan Kanatsiz), Amy L. Wolcott, NTP; Monarch Beach Real Estate (Calee McManus), Andi and Benn McCallister, The Golfer’s Journal, and American Beverage Marketers.

 

A big thank you also goes to the 2025 Tartan Open Golf Committee for their hard work bringing this event to life—Javad Ansari, Kristina Chatow, James Frahm ‘14, Channing Freeman, John Glowacki, Mike Gottlieb, Benn McCallister, Kolin Ozonian ‘02 and Georgia Valaskantjis.

 

The winners:

Overall Men’s: Edgar Ciniceras, Sasan Sean Shahi, Peter Valaskantjis, Eric Irwin

Overall Women’s: Channing Freeman, Allison Schauppner, Laura Chowdury, Kristina Chatow

Overall Mixed: Kolin Ozonian, Shawn Collins, Tyler Smith, Lynn Ozonian

Closest to the Pin Men: James Frahm

Closest to the Pin Women: Lynn Ozonian

Longest Drive Men: Mark Bennett

Longest Drive Women: Cindy Xiaofu

Straightest Drive Men: Eric Irwin

Straightest Drive Women: Jinhy Yoon

Putting Contest: Chase McLaughlin

 

As a supporter of St. Margaret’s need-based Financial Aid program, the Tartan Open has raised more than $1 million over the years in support of students.

 

Thank you to everyone who participated! To learn how you can support the Tartan Open or St. Margaret’s need-based Financial Aid program, please contact Executive Director of Advancement Jonathan Tufo at jtufo@smes.org.