A Salute to Champions!

Clockwise from top left: 1. The ballroom set and ready for our guests! 2. Trophy display 3. The Bo Winiker Band, our entertainment for the evening 4. Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year Doug Clapp 5. The ballroom packed to the gills with supporters of the MGA 6. Team Massachusetts with captain Scott Whitcomb

Wow. What a night!

Last night we hosted our annual Salute to Champions Dinner at Wellesley Country Club. I don't even know where to start, it was such a great night all around!

We had a very special guest in the audience. If you had a chance to read the cover story of the latest issue of MassGolfer, you know that the Mass Open was kind of a big deal this year. We were lucky enough to have the Harmeling family in attendance last night. Thank you Evan, Mark, Amanda, and Ashley for sharing this special night with us! We also had an unexpected treat - a video message from PGA Tour player James Driscoll. Driscoll has been a great supporter of the MGA and Junior Golf, and if you'll recall, his Birdies for Boston program was the inspiration for Evan Harmeling's grand gesture after the Mass Open.

The Wellesley Country Club event staff absolutely busted their butts last night to help us put on a successful event. We could not be more grateful to work with such a hardworking group of people!

Ryan Clancy - the Amateur Public Links champion - showed us what amateur golf is all about during his acceptance speech. If you'll recall back in August, Clancy tied the course record at Glen Ellen Country Club en route to his first MGA Championship. He finished at a ridiculous 10-under par! But during his speech he pointed out his co-competitors in that electric final round - Herbie Aikens and Kevin Carey. He said that playing that round with them was the most enjoyable 18 holes he's played, and it's the first time he can remember that he could look behind him and see his competitors cheering for him and giving him high fives. Amateur golf is great.

Jake Shuman - the Christopher Cutler Rich MGA Junior Player of the Year - brought the room to tears during his speech when he talked about winning the New England Junior Championship for team captain Scott Whitcomb, who had a death in the family during the tournament. Listening to kids like this who are humble, appreciative, and compassionate, gives us all hope for the future. It also shows that golf and its inherent values of courtesy, sportsmanship, and integrity helps mold great kids, which segues perfectly into...

The absolute highlight of the night: the presentation of the Andrew J. Blau MGA Volunteer of the Year Award. This year's recipient is Tom Bernier, a Taunton firefighter who has been working with young golfers through The First Tee of Mass and MGA Links for many years. Tom has dedicated his life to volunteer service and we are so lucky to have him on our team. The story he told of working with a young golfer with down syndrome brought tears to everyone's eyes, and I can't imagine a more deserving individual for this award.

We could not be happier to work with such a wondeful community of golfers across the state, and are looking forward to another great Championship season. Registration goes live on Thursday, February 6th!