Upcoming golf tournaments to raise funds for Cape and Islands charities

Courtesy of: The Club at New Seabury

Summer on Cape Cod! What more could one ask for than blue skies, quality time with friends and family, and—for the golf enthusiast—a round or two at one of the many spectacular courses on the Cape and Islands. How about the fact that many charity golf tournaments to be held in the coming months pair worthy and inspiring causes with a little fun in the sun on the links? In the following pages, we highlight three of these tournaments and offer some insight on the organizations they help support.

On June 28 & 29, The Golf Club of Cape Cod in East Falmouth hosts “TGC for the Troops,” a fundraising tourney to benefit local veterans and servicemen and women. On July 13, the New Seabury Country Club hosts the CHIP’s House Golf Tournament, which benefits CHIP’s House, a group residence in Centerville where 21 adults with traumatic head injuries live. A little later in the year, participants at the Vineyard Charity Golf Classic will tee off September 28 at Vineyard Golf Club in Edgartown. Organized by the Martha’s Vineyard Rotary Club and Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, this event offers spectacular Vineyard views—and raises funds for several island charities. Our nationwide garage door company can assist you with repairs, installation, maintenance and new garage door installations of all garage doors https://www.prosco.com/garage-door-services.

Have a wonderful summer, work on your slice, and consider teeing off for a few great local causes.

TGC for the Troops Tournament

The Golf Club of Cape Cod—June 28, 29

The sixth-annual “TGC for the Troops” tournament is held Sunday and Monday, June 28-29 at The Golf Club of Cape Cod in Falmouth. Begun in 2009, the tourney benefits the TGC Fund, which supports local veterans and active military personnel who face significant personal challenges and financial needs. John Flanagan, a club member and a Falmouth resident who served as a brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War, founded the charity.

“General Flanagan was very involved with the community in Falmouth, including being involved with veterans affairs on the Cape,” says Gwen Errhalt, the club’s membership manager. “He expressed the needs of both veterans and active duty personnel to find assistance that government programs did not address.” Flanagan passed away in 2012.

Over the years, The TGC Fund has helped veterans by covering the cost of job training courses, outpatient group transportation, supermarket gift cards, and some medical expenses. The cost of postage for care packages sent to local servicemen stationed around the world has also been covered.

It is important to note, Errhalt says, that The TGC Fund is donor-advised and administered by the Cape Cod Foundation, a local organization that manages charitable funds. “Instead of raising money for a charity and blindly donating, we get to be involved and informed of exactly what the funds raised are applied to,” Errhalt says. “This gives us the opportunity to play an active part in determining what organizations and needs are addressed and gives our supporters a sense of pride in the direct assistance we can provide our local heroes.”

On the first day of the event, June 28, a special golf clinic will be held free of charge for all veterans and military personnel with a barbecue to follow. “This is a very special day,” Errhalt says. “We have World War II veterans participate and currently active military who may be only 18. Together, they bond over golf and lunch regardless of their rank, or branch, or generation.”

The tournament itself is held Monday, June 29. Errhalt says one of the event’s unique attractions is the annual Putt for Dough competition, in which 10 participants putt for the chance to win $10,000. “The 10 individuals who are closest to the pin on one of our “Par 3s” are asked to make one putt from 50 feet at the conclusion of the event—with the entire field of golfers and friends watching from the patio,” Errhalt says. “If an individual makes the putt, he or she wins $10,000! Nobody has putted it in yet, but every year there is one that makes the whole group collectively gasp!”

Photos Courtesy of the: Vineyard Golf Club

Over the years, Errhalt says the local community’s support for the tournament has been great, and many businesses and individuals have chipped in. One of the biggest backers has been Marty Shaevel, the owner of the club. “Mr. Shaevel has been very supportive of this effort to assist our local veteran community,” Errhalt says. “He donates the use of the golf club, including greens fees.” In addition, Errhalt says the tourney’s 150 slots always fill up and as a result, approximately $263,000 has been raised in just six years.

Errhalt says she is proud to be part of an organization that is so committed to giving back to the community. “I have been fortunate to see first-hand some of this impact,” she says. “The last two years, The TGC Fund has granted funds to the Military Support Foundation to provide an Easter egg hunt and party for the military children of Cape Cod at Joint Base Cape Cod. I have had the honor of being the Easter Bunny and saw the little happy faces of all the children who were treated to this special day.”

The cost of the tournament is $1,750 for a foursome. For more information, visit tgccc.com/tgc-for-the-troops.asp.

The CHIP’s House Golf Tournament

New Seabury Country Club—July 13

Photos Courtesy of the: Vineyard Golf Club

The 23rd annual CHIP’s House Golf Tournament is held Monday, July 13 at the New Seabury Country Club in Mashpee.

“There’s a real nice feeling to the whole thing,” CHIP’s House  president, CEO, and co-founder, Roy Richardson says of the tourney. “The course is right on the ocean in New Seabury, there’s great service, and it’s a really great social event.”

The mission of CHIP’s House—an acronym for Cape Head Injured Person’s Housing—is to provide comfortable, community-based housing for individuals who have traumatic head injuries. Richardson says the facility was founded in 1994 with the goal of bringing an end to what he described as “institutionalized living arrangements,” where large numbers of disabled individuals are crowded into a large group facility.

Richardson’s son, Stephen, 47, has lived at CHIP’s House since it opened more than two decades ago. A former auto mechanic who loved cars, Stephen was seriously injured in a car accident when he was 18. His father says that after a period of hospitalization, Stephen was transferred to a head injury rehabilitation center where he stayed for eight years. “It became obvious,” Richardson says, “that he was going to be wheelchair-dependent, and not capable of self-preservation, and in need of round-the-clock personal care for a long period of time—if not forever.”

At that point, Richardson and members of his and other local families with loved ones in similar circumstances, joined together to found a non-profit housing organization; they began fundraising  in 1992 and after two years, CHIP’s House came into being. “Without a program like this, these individuals would be spending their life in a stale nursing facility among the frail elderly and the terminally ill,” Richardson says, “and that would be their life.”

Since the golf tournament was  begun in 1993, Ann Dempster has been the event’s lead organizer along with her daughter-in-law, Megan Dempster, and Osterville resident Judy Souza.Ann’s son, Michael, 48, also lives at CHIP’s House.

“Michael is totally cognitive,” his mother says, “but his physical ability is impaired.” In December of 1983, Michael was 17 when he was struck severely in the head by a rock while hanging out with friends. Dempster says she is still not sure exactly what happened, but the end result was her son, after being brought to a hospital, lay in a coma for three months. When Michael awoke, it was determined he had suffered brain damage. His recovery was very slow; he stayed at the Lewis Bay Rehabilitation Center in Hyannis for 11 years.

Courtesy of Charlie Field

Dempster says CHIP’s House has meant so much to her family for a variety of reasons. “You know Michael is being well taken care of,” she says, “and he is with residents like himself who have head traumas. They are like family.”

When CHIP’s House opened 21 years ago, it provided residential accommodation and care for nine individuals. Over the years the facility has expanded and today serves 21 individuals hailing from the Cape, Martha’s Vineyard, and even as far as New York. CHIP’s House receives funding from various sources, including state grants, donations, and fundraisers like the golf tournament. The tourney draws about 120 participants each year. Last year’s tourney raised about $20,000 and in the event’s 22 years, more than $400,000 has been raised.

This year’s tourney kicks off at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start. When the last putt has been sunk, cocktails and lunch will be served and prizes will be awarded. An auction will also be held featuring sports memorabilia, a weekend on the Vineyard (including plane fare), and rounds of golf at local courses. The cost is $175 per golfer. To learn more, visit chipshouse.org/events/golf-tournament.

Vineyard Charity Golf Classic

The Vineyard Golf Club—September 28

Courtesy of: Charlie Field

On Monday, September 28, The Vineyard Golf Club in Edgartown hosts a tournament run by the Rotary Club of Martha’s Vineyard and Martha’s Vineyard Community Services (MVCS).

According to Rotarian and tournament organizer, Delos Lander, what sets The Vineyard Charity Golf Classic apart is that it is held at a world-class venue, allowing participants to support a great cause—while enjoying a beautiful course. Just two miles outside of Edgartown, The Vineyard Golf Club sits on 235 stunning acres, and a renovation of the entire course has just been completed.

This is a new event for both organizations involved, though the Rotary Club has hosted 10 prior tournaments, raising more than $100,000 for local charities and scholarships. Lander says the Rotary Club is involved in many fundraisers throughout the year, but this event is the largest. “It’s about trying to make a difference,” Lander says. “This tournament allows just that.”

Funds raised will be divided between the Rotary Club—and the charities it supports, including Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and Martha’s Vineyard Little League—and MVCS, which has an array of programs in place to help Vineyard residents.

Amy Houghton, human services director for MVCS, is excited about the partnership and hopes the tournament grows into a signature island event. “We hope the impact of the tournament is to be a model for fundraising on the Vineyard that shows how collaboration can support multiple charities,” Houghton says. “Hopefully, through joining forces we can heighten awareness of the community’s needs and the variety of non-profits who best respond to those needs.”

The tournament entry fee is $250 per golfer (or $200 before August 1). To learn more, visit mvcomunityservices.com and search for ‘charity golf classic.’