Wade Bowen has been playing music and performing all over Texas, the country and the world for as long as I can remember. I’ve sung his music into long hours of the night with friends and have more memories than I can count. 

But, what I didn’t know about Wade was how much of an effort he has made to give back to his community and the state of Texas. A couple of years ago, my phone rang and it was a call from Jill Goss, Wade Bowen’s sister. We spoke and she gave me some details on the Bowen Invitational, an invite-only golf tournament built to support the Bowen Family Foundation. I went down with the apparel company I was working for at the time and we set up and sold products to help raise money. To my surprise it was one of the most well put together events I’ve had the privilege to be a part of. From the golf, to the location, to the swag, and finally to the dinner and private concert, the Bowen Invitational is truly special. 

While the tournament itself and everything it encompasses is remarkable, what really sets it apart is the amount of money they’ve been able to raise for such worthy partners across the state. That isn’t some easy task either. With the help of his family and team, including his sister Jill Goss and Jordin Westbrook, whom he says they couldn’t do any of this without, they’ve raised over $8 million.

Why a golf tournament?

I’ve always wanted to do a higher-end two-man event. Something a little more serious, but still fun. I’ve done the four-man thing we called the Bowen Classic for years. That one was fun, and not that this one isn’t but I always wanted something a little more serious. This one is flighted, it’s handicapped, and we do a shootout and flight winners. It has a serious golf effect to it, but it’s still a fun golf tournament. The four-man was attached to our music festival that we did. When COVID hit we stopped doing the festival for a few years and so to replace it we decided to just do something where we invited friends and called it the Bowen Invitational. We started with 35 or 40 teams in the first year and felt like it was the perfect size to start an event. That’s where it all came from and we love doing it, it’s obviously easier than putting on a music festival. 

Where does your background and love for the game come from?

Golf has been part of our family for a while. My dad played golf at Baylor and I’ve had a golf club in my hand since I was two or three years old; we played our whole lives. Golf and music are a huge, huge part of our family. Always has been and always will be. 

This supports the Bowen Family Foundation, can you tell me more about what it is and who it supports?

The Bowen Family Foundation doesn’t focus on one charity. Our focus is as many as we can help. At first, we started in the Waco area and now we’ve expanded our search to the entire state of Texas. We let people go and submit grants through our website. We go through as a board and review them. Last year we had 39 applications for grants and we were able to award 34 of them. Some people ask for $500, $5,000 and some ask for even $50,000. When they submit to the board, they tell us who they are, what they do, what they need the money for and how much. We try and go through and help as many as possible, that’s the goal. We don’t really do national charities just because we’ve seen how much we can help by giving to local charities and smaller ones. I wouldn’t call it a rule of ours; for example, we have given to March of Dimes but we do that through a local charity. 

Is there anything specific that you notice about how charitable people can be at a golf tournament versus say music festival or other events you’ve been a part of?

I don’t think it’s golf versus other events. I think it’s more event specific. Our foundation started around 2012, but we had been doing charity events prior to that. Each year with the festival we would pick one charity and donate specifically to them. Eventually I began to feel that wasn’t fair and we could help more charities than just one. Not to mention we didn’t want to donate just the one year. Yes, you can raise more money in a golf setting, however, I think it’s more about getting people in there and setting it up in a way for them to understand what we’re doing and why. We want them to understand where the money is going and once they have those answers people turn out to be very generous with what they’re able to donate. That’s the biggest thing, you can do an event, but no matter what it is, you have to set it up so that people understand what’s going on and why. There are a lot of kind-hearted people out there willing to donate especially when they can see it.

It was at TPC San Antonio the year I was able to attend, is that still the location or have you moved it to a new location?

No, last year we did it at Horseshoe Bay and we’re going back this year in September. 

Do you have any memories from the best or worst moments in the tournament’s history?

Oh gosh. I think the best moment might have been last year in the shootout. The fact that we had a record turnout and a record number of teams. In the shootout we had Parker McCollum who won his flight with John Michael Whitney who plays with George Strait’s band. Then we had Randy Rogers in the shootout, it was like an all-star cast of people. Those are my favorites. I took it easy on them, too. Usually in the shoot-outs there are some drinks being passed around, but I figured they were already under enough pressure as the celebrities in the shoot-out. That was a pretty cool moment, felt like we had 80-100 people in the gallery in golf carts following the shoot-out down the fairway. It was chaos but it was so fun. 

I don’t think I can find a worst, there really isn’t a worst moment. Luckily, knock on wood, we’ve been so blessed with this event to have a few good years of happiness, joy and love. It’s amazing. It’s not just about how much money you have to get an invite to this event. It’s about who you are, and I just think this tournament is full of amazing hearts and amazing people. So it’s really hard to find a bad moment. 

If you had to pick, who would you say is the most surprisingly good player to play in the tournament over the years?

Surprisingly good. Umm, you know Mike Ryan man. He surprised me. He came out of nowhere and he actually made the shoot-out two years ago. He surprised all of us and did a great job. I was really proud of him and I know he surprised himself because I could tell by the way he was in the shoot-out. He was saying “man, I shouldn’t be here… this is awesome”.

What’s the best year you’ve had as far as money raised and how much was it?

Last year was our biggest year we’ve had. It was an amazing turnout all around. We had a waiting list for the first time. This year we already have a waiting list; we sold out in the first two weeks after invites went out. That’s never happened before either. It’s a good problem to have, it’s also an unfortunate (corrected for print) problem to have. Okay, there’s your worst part of the tournament. We can’t include everyone that we want to. There’s just not enough room. It’s all about; we want people to feel like it’s exclusive. Which it is an exclusive event. We don’t just want everybody to be able to get in. I think the people that get in feel happy about it and that’s what we want. 

You’re able to invite some really big names in the Texas Country music scene. What’s that experience like for invitees?

Yeah, last year we moved the Sunday night jam. We did a songwriter night on Sunday night with some Nashville badasses that I’ve written with who’ve had a bunch of No. 1 hits and stuff. We moved the Wade and Friends thing to Sunday night and we did a full band. I got like twelve or so of my buddies, kind of an all-star band, and we learned two of everyone’s songs. We had Ty Myers, Parker McCollum, Koe Wetzel, Fowler, Pat and Jack. I mean the list goes on and on of good people. It was a really, really fun jam. I think that really ups the ante for everyone and I think everyone walked away saying that’s not something you really ever get to see, all those guys up there jamming together. 

Is there one specific thing that stands out about the evolution of the whole thing?

You know, I just think from where we started to where we are now. I think it’s exactly what I envisioned and more. I wanted it to be about golf but I wanted it to be about music a little bit. I think the pride of our foundation no matter what we do on the events is; we want people to feel like… number one, they’re getting more bang for their buck other than any other event. Number two, they’re getting treated like kings and getting a once in a lifetime experience that you can’t really buy. That’s what we really try hard to focus on while we’re organizing this. Every meeting we’re constantly thinking of them and how appreciative we are of their time and their money. So, we’re constantly trying to think of things and experiences we can create to make it special. This isn’t a brag, but I’m proud of this. We have multiple people come up and say this is the most fun event that they go to or have ever been to. 

How do you manage to balance planning an event like this and others while being on the road every weekend performing?

I have great help. Jill Goss, my sister, runs the foundation. We have Jordin Westbrook who is critical to the whole thing. There is no way any of this happens without her. You know, these events, the organizer or the person that keeps the lights on for us and we couldn’t do it without Jordin. I have a great team and great management now that we didn’t have in the past that has really been helpful. I don’t think people understand how much work this really is. As with a concert, they show up and watch us play and think this is the life, it must be easy, this is the coolest thing ever. They don’t see what it took for us to get there and get on stage that night. 

It’s the same with the charity stuff, I love doing it, but it is a ton of work. You have to be very unselfish and very open-hearted and say, this IS what I want to do with my life. Part of my life’s work is that people look back and say, he was a good song writer, good singer, he had a career but look at all he did with the charity work, with the foundation. I want that to be part of my conversation. I’m glad that is, I’m glad that our foundation has done enough work that it’s part of the conversation now. I say this every year, because I want to remind people. We’re doing a lot of work, but we’re putting on an event. We’re raising money, but the real work is the people that we’re giving money to. They’re the ones out there literally keeping people alive every day. Helping special needs kids, helping everywhere. That’s the rewarding part. 

What’s next? Do you think there is a ceiling for the event? Do you think you’ll ever do two events a year?

I think we’re at a good spot. This isn’t one of those things, versus a lot of things in this business, you don’t want to continue to see it grow. I don’t want a lot of people at this, I want it to be successful and I think it has been. My goal right now is to keep it going and keep adding talent and other people that we can bring it to evolve and continue to make money in different ways. I’m already blown away by the success we’ve had. I just think we keep doing it, you know? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I don’t really say that much in my life but with this, I’m really proud of it. I just want to keep it going, that’s the hard part. We have to continue to ask these people over and over again. It’s a year-round job doing one of these events, so definitely not doing two of these. 

What’s one thing you would want someone who hasn’t heard about the Bowen Invitational to know?

I would just encourage them to look at the foundation, not the event. See what the Bowen Family Foundation does and how they can support us and give and be a part of what we do. I want people to know that we have a hell of a good time, but we get a lot accomplished.