TELLURIDE – The annual Strokes of Genius Tournament, a college-scholarship fundraiser for Telluride High School graduating seniors, takes place Friday, July 30-Sunday, Aug. 1, at the Telluride Golf Club. The tournament also features a Calcutta and an awards dinner.

Now in its 17th year, the tournament is one of the larger scholarship funders for graduating seniors, enabling Telluride students with both financial need and academic merit to pursue higher education. 

This year, five $5,000 college scholarships were awarded, to Mackenzie Bronson (Dartmouth College); Meghan Knowles (Berklee College of Music); Mia McLaughlin (Lewis and Clark College); Kenya Strong Johnston (Millsaps College); and Daniel Yoehy (University of Colorado at Boulder Honors College).

The Strokes of Genius Fund was established originally as the Benchmark Fund by the Benchmark Partners, including Ron and Joyce Allred, Forrest and Maria Faulconer, Nancy and Tom McNamara, Ock and Joanie Peterson and Jim and Sheila Wells), who identified the need for a college scholarship fund for Telluride High School students. The proceeds from the Strokes of Genius Golf Tournament, held each July, fuel the scholarship fund, now managed by the Telluride Foundation. Since its inception, Strokes of Genius has distributed nearly $225,000 to fund partial college scholarships for 61 Telluride High School graduates.

Limited space is still available; to register, visit www.telluridefoundation.org/stroke.