FLASHBACK: Third annual TRC golf outing reaches goal of ‘chippin in’ for special causes
CELEBRATE: Rob Beniesz (black shirt) celebrates after sinking a putt at the 2010 Thomas Richards Charity-Matt Moscato Charity Golf & Fundraiser at Westwynd golf Course. File Photo | Dan Stickradt
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
OAKLAND TOWNSHIP — Nikki Baize Moran is quite honest about her golfing etiquette. The 1990 Rochester High School grad hasn’t swung a club in over seven years until Friday, when she hit the links.
“I haven’t played in a long, long time,” she laughed, just moments after participating in a charity golf outing.
Her husband, Dave Moran, also chuckled when explaining that Nikki’s golf shoes required metal spikes and the course no longer sold those in its pro shop.
Despite the rusty swing and out-of-date equipment, Nikki and Dave Moran were among the record number of participants in the annual Thomas Richards Charity Golf Outing, which each year supports a different charity cause.
Grant it, the event was far from the PGA Tour and the level of play didn’t even resemble a local junior varsity thigh school tournament. Yet the TRC event served a grand purpose that even regular golfers could not even match. The TRC raises money for charity and is growing in popularity each year.
This is the third annual event — and by far the biggest. This time there were 149 competitors, along dozens of volunteers, that participated at the event, held for the second straight year at the picturesque Westwynd Golf Course north of Rochester Hills. There was a 59-partipant increase this year, as 90 competed in 2009 and 25 in 2008, the inaugural year.
The Thomas Richards Charity, formed by Rochester High grads Tim Ciotti, Eric Weeks and Mike Moscato, was created in 2005 in memory of the late Matt Moscato, a 1989 Rochester (Mich.) High School grad who was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident while residing in California. Each year the event chooses a different charity.
This year’s event helped raised money for the William J. Perk Foundation, a fellow charity group which is named after the late son of 1990 Rochester High grad Joe Perk. Both Moscato and Perk were football teammates at Rochester back in the late 1980s.
Perk’s son, Liam, was killed by a dog bite in December, 2009, and after starting a foundation, was contacted by TRC president Tim Ciotti in March of this year to get the ball rolling on aiding the Liam J. Perk Foundation.
All of which is a touching activity for Jim Moscato, father of Matt Moscato.
“I’ve played in all three tournaments,” said Jim Moscato. “It’s been a lot of fun. I am glad that they are doing this. It really is (touching).”
Matt Moscato
Following the golf outing, Buffalo Wild Wings in Rochester was a site of a charity festival, which included $10 entrance fee and a band/party tent. An estimated 600 people, many graduates of Rochester High over the span of more than a decade, showed up despite the rainy weather.
“We were hoping for a little more, actually, but the weather had something to do with that,” noted Ciotti, president of TRC. “The storm was really bad to the south and a lot of people lost power. That scared people away. We still got a lot of people to come out and we raised a lot of money.”
The event was planned on the same weekend as Perk’s 20th reunion since graduating from Rochester in 1990, which was held Saturday at LaSala Banquet Center in Oakland Township. That helped draw traffic, as many former classmates were in town for the various festivities.
The event raised an estimated $10,000 and more money is trickling in to the Liam J. Perk Foundation. Individuals can still donate funds by logging onto the foundation’s website at http://www.liamjperkfoundation.org
The TRC is aiming to find another worthy cause to supplement in 2010.
“We will work with the (Rochester High) Class of 1991 to try to host something next summer and we will pick a different charity to sponsor,” offered Ciotti. “It keeps growing. We not only get the regulars to come back, but more people want in each year. The word is spreading. Even the sponsors want to come back.”
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Category: Editor's Column, Featured Articles, Golf Course Reviews, Publishers Viewpoint, Rec/Youth, Sports Fundraisers, Sports Shorts
