Hospice Golf Classic results

Eighth annual golf classic raises more than $37,000.

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It was a splendid September morning to remember at the Mink Meadows Golf Club on Sunday as 70 golfers prepared to tee off for the eighth annual Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard Golf Classic. Course superintendent Matt Crowther’s greens were running at breakneck speed, but as any golfer of merit will admit, golf-course nerves have been known to destroy anything in their wake.

As the contestants filled the raffle board, hoping to win items donated by 15 Island businesses, including Atria, Chesca’s, and Atlantic, Chefs Barbara Phillips and Deb Rogers and Hospice volunteers were supplying them with energy in the form of tasty breakfast treats, including apple fritters donated by Back Door Donuts.

The tournament began with cries of “Let’s make a lot of birdies!” And once on the course, the golfers passed by more than 30 tee sponsor signs, made possible through donations from Island firms and families. Later they would eat homemade lunch, which Mink Meadows returning golf pro Allan Menne remarked was the “the likes of which I have never seen at a charity event.”

In the 6½ hours that transpired between the shotgun start and the end of the auction, the golfers that best controlled their nerves won the golf prizes. The overall winner of this handicap event was the team of Scott Merritt, Cody Brewer, Tom Shockey, Zach Sylvia, and Bruce Kissell, with the low net score of 55.6. Second place went to Rene Mathieu, Brian Lane, Mike Silvia, Joe Fontaine, and Jeff Tompkins, with a net score of 56. The low gross winner was the team of Mink Meadows club champion Lenny Vanderhoop, Bob Reagan, Wendy Reagan, Bruce Stone, and Mike Rasmussen, with a 62. The women’s winner was the team of Lisa Mathieu, Meg Verret, Nancy Morris, Georgie White, and Jane Shigley, who won the Chilmark Chocolates.

This event has become one of the leading fundraisers for Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, which is one of only six hospices out of over 6,000 in America that does not charge for any of its nursing and counseling services. This year it raised more than $37,000.