September 20, 2004

The very best way to describe the 2004 Michael J. Berkeley Memorial Golf Tournament is this:  Good Got Better!!!  The sold-out event was the largest ever; more than 220 golfers participated in the golf outing and more than 260 people attended the Awards Dinner.  Registration for golf was closed one week before the event.


As were the previous two MJB Memorial Golf Tournaments, this outing was held at the beautiful Westchester Country Club in Harrison, New York, also host to the PGA's Buick Classic.  After brunch and words of welcome from Butch Graves, the golfers attacked the sunny links with the same passion and enthusiasm that Mike showed for the game.   After the rounds were finished, it was off to the dining room.  There were cocktails and long tales as conversations overheard proved that golfers have short, and sometimes challenged memories; stories of birdies easily outnumbered bogeys (just not while playing partners were around).  Then guests settled in to see just who the very best golfers really were as Butch handed out awards for low team gross and low team net on each course.  The competition continued as guests outbid each other on auction items that included dinner at Smith & Wollensky and golf at Muirfield Village, Atlantic, Winged Foot, Hudson National and Baltusrol. 


The real treat of the evening, however, was the awarding of the scholarships to the 2004 class of recipients who attended the Tournament:  Annika Windon, Jamie Taylor, Franco Garcia-Lopez and Spencer Witherspoon.  Each of them not only impressed our guests with their golf skills, but also warmed the audience with their brief speeches on what the Michael J. Berkeley Foundation Scholarship meant to them.  It was easy to see some of Mike's drive, determination and ambition in each of them. 


Thanks, again, to you and all of our sponsors, donors, participants, and Board of Directors, the 2004 Michael J. Berkeley Memorial Golf Tournament was a tremendous success.