Fundraiser

The Buddy Classic

Join Us Sunday May 3rd, 2026!

Hi, All. My name is Andrew Krauseneck, and I am the founder/owner/operator of Albatross Indoor Golf Club. My girlfriend, Kelsey, and I started The Buddy Classic back in 2023, with the initial mission to fundraise for a wheelchair-accessible golf cart for our community’s use. This was inspired by my uncle, Mark, who was also my Godfather and my best buddy. Mark was alive when we started The Buddy Classic, in May of 2023, but Mark passed away in September of 2023. Mark had been my golfing buddy, always going out on the course with me, riding along on the cart, and then putting on every hole. Mark was a fierce Special Olympics competitor in multiple other sports, and he was the most positive guy you would have ever met. Mark had Down syndrome, and late in life, he started to develop Alzheimer’s and eventually lost his ability to walk. Through this process, I realized it would have been really nice to have a golf cart available to safely load and unload a wheelchair, so someone like Mark could be along for the ride on the golf course, even after he wasn’t able to get in and out to putt. This would still allow for buddies to enjoy time on the golf course, after one of them lost their ability to walk, whether it be through a disease like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, or through an injury or other physical disability.

Through our first three years of The Buddy Classic, along with further fundraising through apparel and merchandise sales, as well as some grant awards, we raised about $25,000, and we were able to order the wheelchair-accessible golf cart in 2025. The cart is here, on display in the winter at Albatross, and will be available for the community’s use at either Lincoln or King’s Walk in Grand Forks during the summer. There will be no charge to use this golf cart (green fees will need to be paid to the golf course for any golfers, through membership or daily rates, but the cart will be available at no charge for groups that have someone who can take advantage of the functionality of the cart). If you’re having an event in our area and feel you could benefit from the use of the cart, please reach out to see if we can accommodate.

Our plan now is to fundraise for an adaptive cart, most likely a VertaCat, so the community will also have access to another form of adaptive golf. This cart will allow someone who is not able to stand, but is able to use their upper body, the ability to be moved into an upright position, over a golf ball, so they can safely and securely swing. The cart can be taken on the course, so this person could play an actual round of golf; and, we’re hoping to be able to also have it available here at Albatross, so someone could also swing indoors during the winter months. We’re about a third of the way there in this fundraising, with funds left after purchasing the wheelchair accessible cart. And, a big update for the community – NDAD donated funds to the GF Park District just recently for the community’s first VertaCat – so, that will be available at King’s Walk this summer. We’re glad they beat us to it! We’ll be working on the second one. We plan to continue The Buddy Classic for as long as we can, funding equipment, programming, awareness, etc., all for the goal of adaptive golf and inclusion, and maybe we will branch into other sports if we ever exhaust the adaptive golf needs for our community. Uncle Mark was into so many sports, as a player and spectator, so we’ll be able to honor him as long as we are able to continue The Buddy Classic. Please check out our current flyer, below, for information regarding teams and sponsors for our upcoming event on May 3th, 2026. Also, check out the other link below if you’d like to read even more about the formation of The Buddy Classic and more about Uncle Mark’s story and the progression of this journey. Thank you so much for your support.

Fundraiser

Join Us Sunday May 3rd, 2026!

We're in SUMMER MODE!