BizSPORTS
1
2
Great Golf and Golfing Greats for Charity
Tucson Conquistadores Raise $36 Million in 60 Years By Steve Rivera Roy Drachman and Bill Lovejoy would be impressed with what’s become of the Tucson Conquistadores. “They’d probably be amazed that it’s been able to endure,” said Fred Boice, one of the original members of the group that – with Drachman and Lovejoy – was started in 1962. “Secondly, they’d be extremely proud. It’s been so successful. And if you total the money that has been raised and been distributed, well, it’s a lot of money.” Sixty years after coming up with the idea of a group of businessmen getting together to help the Tucson community, more than $36 million has been raised. It’s been a group of good friends, good sports and lots of goodwill. Through sports – and everything that goes with it – Drachman and Lovejoy gathered the men to see if they could rally together to have an impact on the community. “There was a sense among the group that regardless of the challenge, the deeper you dig, the richer the rewards,” Barney Confrey wrote in a commemorative piece for the 50th anniversary of the organization. 56 BizTucson
<<<
Winter 2022
Since its beginning, the Conquistadores – more than 200 members strong and so many more through the years − have dug deep for their community. “I’m exceedingly proud of all this,” Boice said. “We did have a difficult time getting going.” But when they got going, it was the start of something very special. “No stone was left unturned in the pursuit of selling tickets to raise funds for the kids,” Confrey wrote. Whether it was a sports banquet, a tennis tournament or a professional golf tournament, the Conquistadores were there, on their own time and their own dime to make it a success. Drachman was the spearhead of the group, given his love for sports and, well, Tucson. “Our aim will eventually be to sponsor and support deserving local athletes,” Drachman was quoted after the first meeting back in 1962. “We’ll definitely be a working organization, not an honorary one. We’ll try to get young men that are going to work hard for the betterment of the community in support of local sporting events interested
in this group.” And so, they went to work in their staple blue blazers and gray slacks, their original attire that still stands today. From its initial meeting leading to the famed and funny Joe Garagiola emceeing the Conquistadores’ Sports Award Banquet in 1964 to hosting the Tucson Open for the first time in 1966, the Conquistadores have flourished. No job was too big or small for any of them. “The first year I was the tournament chairman and the next year I was parking cars,” Boice said. “A lot of that has contributed to the success of the Conquistadores because you have guys who run their own companies and have done well, and no one has any sway. We have a job to do and if it’s parking cars, you get it done.” What was – and is – true is everyone has pulled in the right direction. The banquets were star-studded – actor and singer Gene Autry, NFL coach Hank Stram and baseball Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Lefty Gomez attended the first one. “We didn’t raise a lot of money,” Tom Chandler, one of the first members, was www.BizTucson.com
