The Olympian Celebrity Golf Classic Set to Tee it Up for a 9th Year

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. --- Many of the area's best golfers and several of the area's… not so best golfers will team with U.S. Olympic athletes and other celebrities in the ninth annual Olympian Celebrity Golf Classic, Thursday, June 18. The four-person team scramble, held at the Craig Wood Golf Course, in Lake Placid, N.Y., benefits the United Way of Clinton & Essex Counties.

"Outside of the annual campaign, this is our biggest fundraiser," remarked Shirley O’Connell, the tournament’s chair and director. “Each year the tournament raises over $10-thousand, so I can easily that this event has raised more than $90-thousand for the two counties.”

Thirty, three-person teams from across northern New York have signed up to tee it up with Olympians including 2002 Olympic bobsled silver medalist Todd Hayes, 1998 Olympic ski jumper Casey Colby and Joe-Pete Wilson, a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Nordic team and 1965 four-man bobsled world championship bronze medalist. The celebrity field also features Olympic broadcasters Tim Singer and John Morgan and the newly crowned women’s singles luge world champion Erin Hamlin, who also slid in the 2006 Olympic Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

“This is a tremendous event and a terrific opportunity for friends and supporters of the United Way to have a truly enjoyable day,” remarked John Bernardi, the executive director of the United Way of Clinton and Essex Counties. “In one way it’s an opportunity to raise money and awareness for the United Way, but it’s also a celebration of this area’s rich Olympic heritage that can only be found in this area.”

Registration begins at 8 a.m. at the Craig Wood course and the tournament begins with the shotgun start at 10 a.m. The Jack Shea Memorial Trophy will be awarded to the first place gross team and the Mike Mannix Memorial Trophy will be awarded to the first place net team. After the round of golf a steak and chicken barbeque will be served, along with drawing for prizes.

Space is still available for six additional three-person teams. If you would like to sponsor a team contact Ms. O’Connell at 518.563.8450. For more information, log on to www.unitedwayce.org.