By Charlie Elrod, Ph.D. Vice-President, NEAFA, President, Natural Biologics, Inc.
One could not have asked for more spectacular weather or a better crowd for the 2023 Golf for Good Works tournament on August 22nd at the Turning Stone golf course. 110 golfers signed up to participate and about half that number turned out for the reception on Monday evening. The skies were clear, the temperatures in the mid-70s and winds were calm as we gathered to enjoy reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones.
The next morning was blissfully cool as the group started gathering around 6:30 for sign-in, breakfast, coffee, more fellowship and putting practice. John Clark, chair of the Good Works committee, welcomed everyone and provided a recap of how the funds raised in this event go to support the next generation of dairy leaders. FFA scholarships and support for the Northeast Collegiate Dairy Challenge are just two of the efforts supported by NEAFA through the Golf for Good Works. John then introduced Ella Underberg, the President of the New York State Chapter of FFA. Ella welcomed everyone and thanked the golfers for their support of FFA. Todd Lighthall, Executive Director of the NY FFA chapter also welcomed the group and thanked them for their support. He also put in a plug for the NYS FFA Golf Tournament to be held October 7th.
After brief instructions from the golf superintendent the teams took off for their appointed starting hole on the course. In the end about 100 golfers played with the team of Tom Buck, Mark Absalom, Michael O’Neill and Luke Lines taking first place with a score of 61, or 11 under par, followed closely (actually with the same score, but decided using the USGA tie-breaking method) by the team of Mark Anderson, Zach Anderson, John Myers and Brad Saunders. Third place, and only trailing by one point, was the team of Chris Pierpont, Shane Laurie, Kyle Laurie and Paul Pratico. NEAFA’s Treasurer, excelling as he does in all things, got the high score with his team.
After about 5 hours of play the teams began to trickle back in for the awards lunch. The excitement was evident as everyone recounted the highs and lows of their day, but universally the fantastic course and perfect weather were the hallmarks of a great day of golf. Visit the photo gallery to see pictures of the day on the NEAFA website.
While it was a great day for golf, more importantly, it was a great day of fundraising for an important cause. The first accounting for the day suggests that over $8000 was raised to support programs for youth in dairy. The hole-in-one competition netted about $1200 for the Northeast Dairy Challenge. Thank you to the many NEAFA member companies who contributed so generously to the tournament.