ELK GROVE VILLAGE, lll. – Although the day started with a brief rain shower, it quickly turned into a picture-perfect, sun-kissed and balmy Indian summer afternoon, as golfers from across the United States convened for the annual Plast-Chicago Open Golf Outing held on Saturday September 10, at the Fox Run Golf Links in Elk Grove Village, Ill.
For 18 consecutive years, participants have been coming from all corners of the United States, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Florida, to take part in this very popular and well-attended charity golf tournament, which is hosted by the Chicago-based Pobratymy fraternity of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization.
Using a team scramble format to engage the 56 men and women golfers, this outing provided an opportunity for participants to enjoy friendly competition and great camaraderie in a beautiful setting. The fun continued with the traditional post-golf reception and dinner held in the clubhouse, after which the award winners were announced and a raffle of donated articles was held.
The men’s tournament was won by Orest Markewych, Luke Markewych, Derek Graham and Brian Rourke. The women’s tournament winners were Katrusia Saldan, Marijka Dykun, Areta Kuritza and Lida Stankevych.
The men’s and women’s longest drive competitions were won by Tyler Hall and Jen Farkas, while the closest to the pin contest winners were Mark Murskyj and Roman Mycyk. The putting contest was an exciting playoff when three individuals actually got holes-in-one; the eventual winner of the runoff was Christopher Bej from Cleveland. Winning the 50/50 charity raffle was Oleh Hanowsky.
As usual, proceeds from this year’s event will provide financial support for Plast and The Pobratymy Foundation, a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt corporation established in 1992 by members of the Plast Pobratymy fraternity. In the past, the foundation has contributed over $140,000 to further the principles of Plast and Ukrainian scouting to Plast chapters in United States, Canada and Ukraine.
The Pobratymy Foundation and the tournament’s organizers expressed enormous gratitude to all the sponsors and volunteers – including Areta Kuritza, Oleh Hanowsky, Andres Durbak and Ihor Hrynewycz – for their support, generosity and commitment, as they are the lifeblood of this annual charity event.