Gillies golf event benefits children

Organizers of every charity golf outing grow anxious about the weather for their day. At one event, they also worry about what's happening in the Stanley Cup playoffs. If the Penguins are in the final, team president Mario Lemieux won't be able to make it to the Clark Gillies Celebrity Golf Invitational June 7 at Huntington Crescent Club.

"He's always been a very close friend," Gillies, Lemieux's fellow Hall of Famer, said. "We wish him the best if it means he can't make our outing."

The guest list will be impressive either way. Bryan Trottier is scheduled to be there, along with Bob Nystrom, Ed Westfall, Gerry Hart, former Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien and several current Islanders.

All proceeds go to the Clark Gillies Foundation (www.clarkgillies.org), which sponsors children's charities such as Clark Gillies Pediatric Center at Huntington Hospital and the Morgan Center in Plainview for preschool cancer patients. "We've raised close to $1.5 million," said Gillies, the former Islanders left wing, now a money manager for Hilton Capital Management.

Gillies is still technically a professional from his days on the Celebrity Tour. "I'm going to get my amateur status back, he said, adding that he would like to try to qualify for local tournaments like the Richardson and the Ike.

LIer first entrant

Joe Saladino of Cold Spring Harbor, one of the area's top amateurs, was the first of 9,052 golfers to file entries for the U.S. Open. The USGA said his was the first application on the first enrollment day, March 3.

At the other end of the spectrum, Brent Hurt of Lockhart, Tex., filed his form at 4:59:47 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 seconds before the deadline. Ninety-five of the entries were submitted online, a USGA spokesman said.