Dedona earns $95,000 for hole-in-one

The two official onlookers, one of them a nun, could not believe their eyes. They watched Michael Dedona take his swing on the ninth hole at Cherry Valley Club in Garden City on Monday, they heard his fellow golfers shout, "Good shot!" and they saw the two crisp bounces. Still, it was a shock when the ball went in, mostly because everyone realized that Dedona's hole-in-one had just earned him $95,000.

"It did make our golf outing very exciting," said Pat DiLollo, an administrator at Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset, who was at No. 9 with Sister Elaine Hanson, the director of alumni relations, during the school's fundraising tournament. They were stationed there because the hole-in-one insurance policy, underwritten by David Sutton, father of a student at the school, required two witnesses.

There was no doubting this ace. "It was unbelievable. It was pretty crazy," said Dedona, a resident of Westport, Conn., who had signed up for the outing only because he is a friend of the honorees, Mauro and Diane Perciballi, benefactors of the all-girls college preparatory school.

It was the first hole-in-one for Dedona, a 20 handicap. "Sometimes I play well, sometimes I play not so well," he said.

For sure, the day was unforgettable for him. But it was downright essential for the academy, which made about as much as Dedona did. It was important for Cherry Valley, too. That is the bottom line for golf outings, which go way beyond hole-in-one jackpots. Charities and clubs depend on them, especially now.

"We don't get any funding from anywhere. We rely on our tuition and whatever we can raise," DiLollo said. The outing is one of the school's biggest fundraisers.

A day of golf can earn six figures for an organization or charity, in a way hardly anything else can. "It has become a challenge, with the economic environment we're in," said Fordham basketball coach Tom Pecora, who recently hosted his 10th annual Coaches vs. Cancer Golf Tournament earlier this month at Sands Point Golf Club.

"We had to become creative. We used to have it the last Monday in August but we moved it to May. Fewer people are on vacation then. And by August, a lot of companies have spent their allotment on charity outings," he said, adding that this year's event -- with former NCAA champion coach Rollie Massimino and big-name announcers Mike Breen and Bill Raftery in the field -- was successful.

Pecora added that the outing has proven to be a good way to spread the word about the cause.

Courses are as eager to have outings as charities are, what with rental fees between $50,000 and $100,000. Public courses like the security of getting a day's fees paid up front. At private clubs, said Dan Condon, who heads an accounting firm that works with golf facilities, "Outings are the profitable side of the food and beverage business at a club."

You would think they have been around forever, but you'd be wrong. Steve Matuza, a recently retired second-generation course superintendent, recalled that outings were rare and small well into the 1960s. They were almost nonexistent at public courses, he said, mostly because the fairways, greens and tees weren't pristine then.

He said that in the early 1970s, "courses needed to find another way to increase revenue or they would go under." The proliferation of golf carts helped. They allowed for the invention of the "shotgun" start, in which foursomes all begin at the same time on different holes.

Matuza, who is organizing an outing for CancerCare (www.cancercare.org) at The Creek June 16, said the genre reportedly got its name when a pro in the state of Washington actually fired a shotgun.

Every outing does have its downside. For the greens staff, it means not having a day off. For participants, it means not playing pure golf (often, it's either a best-ball or "scramble" format).

Still, an outing generally is a shot in the arm for a good cause, for golf and occasionally for a fortunate golfer.

"I imagine," Dedona said, "I'll get invited back next year."