REFA celebrates 10th annual golf outing

For weeks before the outing the word around the REFA executive office was: Monday, rain. I made a mental note to pack an umbrella. Thought about sending out a memo asking everyone to pray to Apollo. Wondered how effectively I could man my post as official hole-in-one witness while simultaneously taking torrential rain to the face. Considered buying a poncho. The crisis was averted and Monday turned out to be a Sandals-commercial-like day. Golfers from all over Connecticut and even parts of New York arrived at Racebrook Country Club in Orange, and began to trickle through the registration tent. After registering, buying raffle tickets, and grabbing a few free golf essentials, some headed to the driving range to shine up their somewhat rusty game, while others chowed down at the barbecue tucked behind the clubhouse At quarter after noon, they were off. With chips, drinks and enough chocolate bars to stop Willy Wonka in his tracks, the snack carts careened around the course. As for me, I had a front-row seat at the 15th hole. There I waited vigilantly for a King Arthur-like figure to be worthy of the $10,000 hole in one. No one was up to par (pun completely intended), though more than a few bribes were sent my way. But after 110 misfires and two false alarms, Tournament Headquarters (an insurance company clever enough to stake a claim against someone making the hard-enough-to-win-it-may-as-well-be-rigged hole in one) could still breathe easy. There was no big check to give away, except for the $2,500 donations each to Foodshare and Habitat for Humanity raised by the outing, which itself is no small feat. Much of this donation was due to raffle ticket sales (who doesn't want to take home a wii?) and the eager buyers of the mulligans. A mulligan, if you are unfamiliar with the term, is an ingenious device which lets all-star golfers keep their pride after hitting the ball off in the woods, saying they meant to do it. After all, the extra swing was for charity. The event culminated in a networking social, where hors d'oeuvres were consumed, business partnerships bloomed, and talk of birdies and bogies filled the air. Steve Elbaum of Robinson and Cole was presented with a gift recognizing his two years as the REFA-CT president. Executive director Mark Schuman announced the winners of each award and gave out raffle prizes, including the coveted 250 piece bucket of Double Bubble Gum, along with many smaller prizes like a 26" flat panel TV, Calloway Driver and Digital Camera, among others. All in all, the day was a success - the donations, the food, the weather - it couldn't have been better. Rumor has it there was a different golf outing scheduled at Racebrook for the next day. To all of those Tuesday golfers, I won't rub it in, but let's just say the Apollo memo wouldn't have hurt. REFA would like to thank all of our sponsors that made this event possible: Reckson, a division of SL Green, People's United Bank, Robinson and Cole, Realty Recapitalization Advisors LLC, Edgewood Capital, Fidelity National Title Insurance, POKO Partners, Building and Land Technology, Bingham McCutchen, Davis Marcus Partners, Day Pitney, First American Title Insurance Co., Murtha Cullina, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, RMS Construction, Seaboard Properties, Sentry Commercial Real Estate Services, Shipman & Goodwin, Talcott Realty Investors, W&M Properties, and Webster Bank. Winners of the day included: Closest to the pin (#2) - Michael Pollack and Barb Budnick. Closest to the pin (#9) - Steve Clutterbuck and Deanna Polizzo. Closest to the pin (#11) - Steve Clutterbuck. Closest to the pin (#12) - Ken Hylwa and Heidi DeWyngaert. Longest Drive: Mike Mihalek and Kelly Molloy. 3rd Lowest Team Net: 51.3 - Kenneth Hylwa, Jay Tansey, Bill Fenn, Dale Reese. 2nd Lowest Team Net - 50.45: Michael Byrne, Chip Andrews, Mike Marcante, Tom Pajolek. 1st Low Team Net (Names on REFA Cup) - 49.55: Donald Gustafson, Barbara Budnick, Heidi DeWyngert, Felix Charney. Low Team Gross - 60: Eric Brooms, Steve Clutterbuck, John Gustafson. Highest Team Net - 68.6: JoAnn McGrath, Maureen O'Boyle, Beth Chappel, Susane Dengenis. Amy Riccio is with the REFA executive office.