FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — The 9th Annual Maine Basketball Hall of Fame Golf Scramble held Saturday, Aug. 3, at Aroostook Valley Country Club in Fort Fairfield was termed a huge success by organizers.
A beautiful day and a first class golf course made for the perfect setting for this event, according to Larry Gardner, event organizer. Former and current players, coaches, officials, Maine Basketball Hall of Fame members along with basketball fans and golfers alike took part in the event to help raise funds for the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame who will be inducting their 6th class on Sunday, Aug. 18, at the Cross Insurance Center.
Teams from MDI, Orono, Bangor, Dexter as well as Aroostook County and New Brunswick were all represented. Following opening remarks by Gardner, who is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Hall of Fame, several guests were introduced including 2014 Hall of Fame inductee and member of the Board of Directors Skip Chappelle and Board of Director Peter Murray, current boys varsity basketball coach at Dexter.
John Donato, a 2019 inductee, was also introduced and spoke of how honored he feels to be included and how much he enjoyed his day at Aroostook Valley. A special toast was also held to honor Peter Webb, who is currently going through some medical issues. A letter from Webbs’
family was read and all present raised a glass to honor Webb.
An auction of 18 items was held that included four Red Sox tickets in the owner’s box provided by Phil Morse, a former UMaine graduate and now part owner of the Boston Red Sox. Also auctioned were Boston Celtics tickets against Dallas Mavericks compliments of Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle. Celtic tickets versus the Chicago Bulls (head coach Jim Boylen) and Celtics versus the Orlando Magic from head coach and Maine native Steve Clifford were also auctioned.
Tickets and lodging to UMO basketball, hockey and football games along with concert tickets as well as golf packages to the Samoset, Kebo Valley, PVCC, Waterville and Aroostook Valley Country Club were among the many items auctioned which raised over $6,500.
Cash prizes totalling over $3,000 were awarded to the top four low gross teams and top four low net teams as well as longest drive, skins game and closest to the pin winners.
The winning low gross team from the Orono area included John Donato, Matt Murray, Jason Coleman and Elizabeth Lacognata, who posted a score of 16 under par. Second gross went to the team of Mike Cote, Bobby Russell, Steve Clark and Harry Orser. Third gross went to Greg Cyr, Kelly O’Leary, Chad Cyr and Keegan Cyr from Fort Kent. Fourth gross went to the team of Loenard Nicolas, Richard Moulton, James Bernard and Ryan Moulton from New Brunswick.
First net went to Noah Bernard, John Bernard, Jonah Bernard and Shane McGillan from Fort Fairfield. Second net winners were Neal Griffeth, Chris Richards, Curt Anderson and Shawn Savage from Caribou.
Third net went to the team of Donovan Savage, Dayne Savage, Cody Herbert and Jon Glazier also from Caribou. Fourth net winners were Barrett Potter, Rik Goodwin, Mark King and Sean Dolomont from Houlton.
Two teams won the skins game worth $285.00 each. Winning teams were Mike Cote, Bobby Russell, Steve Clark and Harry Orser and the team of Otis Kneeland, Michael Prisco, Kent Clark and Greg Ireland. The Boondocks Grille Longest Drive winners were Chris Casavant for the men and Judy Dombrowski for the women who each received a $75 gift card from Boondocks Restaurant in Fort Fairfield.
Two Hole-In-One awards were offered including a new 2019 Honda Civic supplied by Griffeth Ford along with a $10,000 Cash Hole-In-One offered by the Par and Grill both from Caribou. No one won either prize, but some golfers came close and were awarded closest to the pin prizes on the 5 par 3 holes.