Fun season of golf outings for charity comes to a close

Bob Miller, left, Jay Delsing, Vicki Balhoff, Dick Balhoff, and Lawain McNeil at the RVR outing.

There are still some good days ahead this year for the diehard golfers who don't mind chilly weather, but this month pretty much wrapped up the fall season of charity golf outings.

IT WAS free lunch, golf, and dinner, but no prizes. Instead, the top teams had donations made in their names to charities. It all took place at Highland Meadows Golf Club on Oct. 8, for the RVR Wealth Advisors Fall Golf Outing. Bob Miller of RVR, the event chairman assisted by his business partners, Dick and Vicki Balhoff, said more than $2,000 was donated to five charities, including Hospice of Northwest Ohio in honor of the winning team of Bruce Kloster, David Weaver, Scott Nightingale and Steve Boehm.

Bob Miller, left, Jay Delsing, Vicki Balhoff, Dick Balhoff, and Lawain McNeil at the RVR outing.

Other charities that benefited were the Defiance Area Foundation, Golden Retrievers Rescue & Assistance Dogs of America, Sylvania Rotary, and St. Joseph School in Sylvania. Matrix Asset Allocation/Abundance Technologies, Inc., provided half of the donation.

THE Toledo Rotary Memorial Golf Outing in memory of Glen Dunbar, a Rotarian, and others who greatly contributed to the community over the years, was Oct. 5 at the Toledo Country Club. Chairman Brad Rubini said it was a fun day for all levels of golfers. And rather than spend money on prizes, everything was thrown into the pot for the Rotary Foundation for charitable causes. The second annual event included 28 golfers who played scrambles or kept their own scores, tore up the turf, and had fun for the cause. The event raised more than $1,400.

HARBOR October Golf Outing - better known as HOGO - was Oct. 1 at Stone Ridge Golf Club in Bowling Green. It was a wet and soggy day, but that didn't stop the 10 foursomes from hitting the links.

Tim Sims and his team were the winners at 9 under par. The $2,500 that was raised benefits Harbor Behavorial Healthcare. Save the date for the first Monday in October next year.

THE Fall Classic benefiting Mom's House was Sept. 24 at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania. Chairman Mike Kruse was assisted by Bill Sheehan, Paul Geha, John Smythe, and Jim Poure. The 27 foursomes had great weather for the day of lunch, golf, and an awards dinner. The winning team included Gary Pack, Gary Le Sage, Tom Lestrange, and Dennis Rife, and they shot a 57. Guest speaker Judd Silverman of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic presented by Kroger talked about Mom's House as one of the Farr charity recipients. A Calloway bag and set of woods donated by the Calloway Foundation was auctioned off for the cause. Christina Hicks, the new executive director of Mom's House, was pleased with the net of about $10,000 for the house.

Julie Rubini with a poster from the Jamie Farr tournament signed by golfers Natalie Gulbis, Morgan Pressel, and Paula Creamer. It was auctioned at the Toledo Country Club outing.

ST. LUKE'S Hospital Foundation Golf Classic was Sept. 24 at Belmont Country Club. The charity scramble attracted more than 200 golfers. The more than $35,000 netted at the third annual event was donated to the Campaign for Diabetes Care at St. Luke's Hospital.

BAY Park Community Hospital Foundation Pro-Am was Sept. 21 at Belmont Country Club, but it started the night before with a dinner and auction. The first- time event netted nearly $55,000 and another is planned for next year.

TOLEDO Country Club was one of many clubs that held a Rally for a Cure golf outing to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer. The TCC event was Aug. 10 with chairman Julie Rubini, who was assisted by co-chairmen Doy DiNardo and BJ Casabianca, who are pleased to report a net of more than $9,500 for the cause.

The tennis ladies, led by Becca Gorman, raised $700 in conjunction with the golf event. Among the attendees were Mark and Marcia Rubini, Ditte and Mike Galbraith, George and Pat Eistetter, Tim and Angie Thetford, Dan Roshon and Barbara Sears, Joe and Cindy Licata, and Norm and Laura White, as well as Brad Rubini, Mike DiNardo, and Andy Casabianca, husbands of the chairmen.

NOT for charity, but certainly worth mentioning is the Caddie Reunion of the 1957 U.S. Open Sept. 22 at Inverness Club. The all-day event included all past caddies and participants from all over the country. More than 64 caddies and players, plus 52 club members, were present. There were memorabilia, pictures, highlights, and video footage from tournaments in 1920, 1931, and 1957 at Inverness. Several of the caddies present were teenagers at the time and didn't know they were being filmed, said Rob Stone, general manager of Inverness. David Kasperzak, general chairman of the caddies, worked with Jim Schwarzkopf, Inverness board president.

Inverness Club honored John Kretzschmar and William Parker for their support for the Evans Caddies Scholarship program started by the late Chick Evans, a prominent amateur golfer in the Chicago area, under the direction of the Western Golf Association. Golf clubs across the country participate in the program and Inverness has provided more than 150 full scholarships through its local caddie program.

NOTE: Put me on your invitation list for your events.