The St. Peter’s Open golf tournament is 29 years old and still going strong at Riverside Golf Course in Portland. The two-day tournament will be played next Saturday and Sunday.

The tournament has two formats with different players each day. On Saturday, the field will play a points tournament. On Sunday, it will be a scramble. There are separate prizes for each. Both days will have a shotgun start, with Saturday’s play starting at 1 p.m. and Sunday’s at 8 a.m.

The tournament has grown steadily over the years, both in participation and money raised. This year’s tournament will have 20 foursomes on Saturday and 35 on Sunday.

The chief beneficiary is the tournament’s namesake, St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church on Federal Street in Portland. The money raised goes to the church’s building fund.

The tournament also has helped fund the Riverside Golf Association’s scholarship fund, which benefits deserving students.

In addition, 50 percent of the tournament’s net proceeds go to a charity selected by the tournament’s sponsors.

The tournament started when a group of church members, who were golfers, talked about a way to raise money for the church, which was facing a financial crisis.

“The church was broke at the time,” said tournament director Tony Mancini. “We decided to have a tournament.

“The first year we raised $1,500. That fired us up to continue it.

“The tournament increased in size each year after that. Some years, we’ve had to turn golfers away because we didn’t have any room.”

Former Portland resident Dave Caprio, who now lives in the Boston area, returns each year to help run the tournament and play.

So do the majority of the players who as soon as golf season starts look forward to the weekend after the Fourth of July, when the tournament is played.

Also returning every year are most of the tournament’s sponsors and advertisers. This year, 96 sponsors and 200 volunteers are lined up.

Bill Dodge Auto Group is sponsoring a hole-in-one car, as the dealership has done in the past.

Riverside North’s third hole, a challenging, downhill par 3, is the designated hole.

Mancini said in addition to the money raised for the church, the RGA scholarship and charities, the tournament has contributed to the local economy by purchasing tournament prizes from golf outlets and food for Sunday’s buffet.

In the previous St. Peter’s Opens, Mancini estimates that approximately $227,000 has gone back into the local economy.

The tournament concludes with a Sunday buffet, prepared by Nicky Ciccomancini, at St. Peter’s Hall.

TEE TO GREEN: Portland Country Club assistant pro Jim Ouellette scored his first career hole-in-one recently on the fourth hole at Portland.

He used a 9-iron on the 148-yard shot.

Playing partners were his brother, Mark Ouellette of Poland, Ben Steele of Falmouth and Mitch Spaulding of Freeport.

Shawn Warren and John Hickson finished among six players tied for 15th at last week’s Massachusetts Open at Oak Hill in Fitchburg, Mass. Warren had rounds of 73-67-72 and Hickson went 71-67-74.

Both were involved in a three-way playoff for the Maine Open title two weeks ago at Falmouth Country Club, along with winner Michael Carbone of Brewster, Mass.

Carbone finished in a tie for 21st at the Massachusetts Open. Kyle Gallo of Kensington, Conn. won the tournament with a 5-under 205. Gallo tied for eighth at the Maine Open, a tournament he won in 1999.

In the final qualifying tournament for the men’s Maine Amateur, Biddeford-Saco Country Club players finished in the top three at their home course.

Scott Dewitt was medalist with a 69, and Brian Angis and Ron Dery shot 70s.

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH

 

Copy the Story Link