Chicago Golf Report

2012 Catholic Charities Golf Invitational: Great Golf on Great Courses

During the summer of 2012, the fairways of Cog Hill Golf & Country Club will be bypassed by the top 70 professional golfers for the BMW Championship, but the Catholic Charities of Chicago Golf Invitational will again visit the friendly Lemont site for their 15th annual fund raising outing on Wednesday, July 25. Billed as “Great golf for a great cause: families in need”, this event ranks as one of the largest charity golf tournaments of the entire year in the Chicago area, and most probably in the entire Midwest. Again this year, approximately 500 accomplished golfers will have the opportunity to play on all four courses, which includes Dubsdread, the Ravines, and Courses 1 and 3. Spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Charities, Christina Raddi, stated “We have raised $2.7 million (net) over the past 15 years for our family services programs by means the golf outing and the generosity of the participants, and hope to do well again this year.”

The events of the day kick off with breakfast at the course starting at 7:30am; the shotgun start on all four courses will be at 10:00am with lunch being served on the course at 11:00am; cocktails with dinner begins at 3:30pm. During and following dinner, the winners of the silent auctions and live auctions, featuring sports items, tickets to sporting events, along with entertainment and travel opportunities, will be announced.

Adding to the fun and excitement of this event are the skill contests to beat a celebrity. For the first time in many years, Sister Maryann Dosen, OSF, will not be present for the famous “I Beat The Nun” challenge; Sister Maryann, former golf coach at Mount Assisi Academy, is in Italy. Stepping up to challenge the golfers this year are the following celebrity contests: “I Rattled the Rev” with Father Bob Gielow; “I Dumped the Deacon” with Deacon Dan Welter; “I Beat the Judge” with Judge Bill Taylor; “I Beat the Brewmaster” with Randy Sprecher; “I Beat Skinny & Houli” with James ‘Skinny’ Sheahan and Mike ‘Houli’ Houlihan; and, “I Beat the Female Pro” with golf professional Rachel Teresi. Those golfers who successfully beat the celebrity will be rewarded with a towel proclaiming the accomplishment “I Beat The (Celebrity)”.

One new ‘raffle drawing’ is scheduled for 2012; for this year, replacing an ordinary raffle ticket-stub drawing, will be a helicopter golf ball drop. Just after dinner, around 5:30pm, numbered golf balls will be taken aloft in a helicopter and dropped onto a designated green, with the owner of the numbered ball that stops closest to the hole winning the raffle grand prize (to be determined). Further information can be obtained at www.catholiccharities.net/golf or by calling Catholic Charities Communications Department, 312-948-6797.

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