Titans’ First Annual Golf Tournament Big Success at National Pines

The intrepid foursome of Carlo D’Emilio, Milad Mohib, Richard Kim, and Zach Giusti captured the First Annual Titans Baseball Club Golf Tournament at beautiful National Pines in Innisfil on Saturday.  The group—built around our very own strength and conditioning gurus from ARC and two significant long-driving additions—delivered a stellar -16 Scramble team score to win the 2020 championship trophy and a Foursome Greens Fees Certificate to play King’s Riding GC, courtesy of Clublink.  With their loud music blaring from their golf carts and clearly channeling the subversive behavior of Rodney Dangerfield in “Caddyshack”, the Fab Four overcame cool October 3rd conditions and lightning fast greens to win the tourney by a single stroke over a field of 100 golfers. Other winners on the afternoon included three closest to the pin competitors-- Rob Emerson, Kelly Kitchen, and Scott Rutledge—who each won a dozen Pro-V golf balls and a $50 gift certificate to Golf Town.  Dave Hunt captured the 50/50 and was presented with $700 cash by the Titans tournament organizing committee. 

Participants complied with COVID19 restrictions as foursomes teed off consecutively from 11 AM to 3 PM to keep registration procedures and dining safe for golfers, organizers, and National Pines staffers. Golfers enjoyed their pre-ordered meals in a very hospitable Clubhouse setting that was limited to four distanced tables at a time. Mask and hand-washing protocols were in place at reception and in the Clubhouse.

The Titans Baseball Club would like to thank its outstanding Dynamic Duo of Holly Windle and Michelle Norris for preparing the National Sports starter bags and for supervising the ClubLink $10,000 Hole-in-One competition on the 165 yard, Par Three 17th, which featured some near misses. Thanks to Ryleigh Vera, Matthew Brandt, and Jackson Burek for supervising the reception and prizes table.  Community service hours were given to eleven of our Titans student-athletes who put in an active 10-hour day at the golf course to help with many administrative tasks including set-up, closest to the hole supervision and measurement, as well as reception and prize table work.  Thanks to Niklas Andonovsky, Ryan Smith, Josh McBride, Faisal Al Ajeel, Marquez Allard, Owen Norris, Etan Petel, Hayden Irwin, Jose Correa, Matthew Brandt, and Jackson Burek for their diligence and assistance.

Lastly, the Titans would like to thank the Terrific Trio from National Pines—Stephanie Landers-Fenn, Chris Favreau, and Sandra Schell— for all their assistance with the planning of the tournament and on the golf course to keep our foursomes moving; their timely help and hospitality was on display on the course, in the Clubhouse, and in the Pro Shop! Delicious food was enjoyed by all participants due to the efforts of Sandra and her team! The Titans also wish to thank the Head Office staff at ClubLink--Vince Carbert, Madalena Ferreira, and Robin Cawkell-- for their generous corporate donation of $4000 worth of prizes including six foursome and limited membership certificates at five ClubLink courses. These certificates were featured at the prize table as well as in the Titans On-Line Silent Auction.

 Director of Baseball Operations and Tournament co-chair Lawrence Vera summarized the first Annual Titans tourney with praise for our hosts:  “The National Pines staff was fantastic with their welcoming hospitality.  Everybody had a blast—smiles were everywhere!”

Despite the pandemic and unseasonable cool conditions, the first annual Titans Golf Tournament was, indeed, an unbridled success with 100 golfers and 15 on-course volunteers contributing to a fun day for our baseball community! Thanks to all participants, donors, and sponsors for making history with the Titans.