Thursday members of our little racing community gathered together at the Bellport Country Club. Some came to knock a few little white balls around. Others just helped out and traded stories. Everyone had a blast. It was a Tom Baldwin kind of day.

As Riverhead Raceway track announcer, Bob Finan mentioned; ‘I can just hear Tommy now; “You just had to wait until I was gone, didn’t you?”’ The first annual Tom Baldwin Memorial Open went off without a hitch. The event raised about $40,000 for The Victory Junction Gang Camp, the Autism Society of America, the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation and the Village of Bellport Concert Series.

Unlike other ‘Memorial’ events, this outing was something that inspired everyone to tell their own Tom Baldwin stories. I won’t write about many of these. One story was told by a local who remembered Tom sneaking through the woods to join his group in a round on many occasions at this very club. If anyone would like to hear any more stories, might I suggest that they attend next year’s outing.

Celebrities in attendance included NEXTEL Cup drivers Kasey Kahne, Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty and broadcasters Matt Yocum, Bob Dillner and Larry McReynolds. Among the other NASCAR heavy-hitters were Eddie D’Hondt, Team Manager for Robert Yates Racing, Tony Eury, Jr., Crew Chief for Michael Waltrip, Ken Francis, Team Director for Jeremy Mayfield, Evernham Motorsports Competition Director, Sammy Johns, World famous spotter, Mike Calinoff, Busch North Series driver, Bryon Chew and NASCAR Director of Regional Racing Development, Don Hawk. Most of the other celebrities were those lovable guys from the Whelen Modified Tour who just couldn’t let a game of golf get in the way of crashing a few golf carts.

One of the most inspiring people at the golf outing was Desirae Gooding. When Gooding heard about this fundraiser, she went to work. Desirae raised six hundred dollars primarily by selling baked goods to her classmates. As Tommy Baldwin, Jr. pointed out, ‘she did more for the cause than all of us…’ Despite the fact that Gooding suffers from her own disabilities and is wheel chair bound, she was the happiest and proudest person in attendance.

There were many hole sponsors but the 7th hole was left open for Tom. The tribute tee area featured a couple of easels covered with racing photographs depicting the legend himself. The driver’s side door from the car Tommy gave him, as a Christmas present was the centerpiece of this display along with a #7 floral arrangement.

Congratulations to Steve Halpin and Debbie Neuman for pulling this whole thing off so smoothly. Steve told me, ‘it was a tough job but we got a lot of help’, he continued ‘Jim Wichert from Unique golf supplied us with all of our equipment and golf balls, Steve Stattle from Sign Inc. provided our signs, Gene Ullman from ASI provided our attire.’ Steve would also like to thank Ted Baxter from Hampton Jitney for providing ground transportation, Bill Denniston for providing security and Jim, Billy, Nile and Finton from the Bellport Country Club for helping him put the whole thing together.

Tommy, Jr. did a fantastic job of getting the celebrities in place for this event. We want to thank Ray Evernham and Kyle Petty for providing their private jets to fly them to Long Island. Additionally we thank to Ray for allowing so many members of his staff to participate in this tournament.

In addition to dozens of hole sponsors, Mr. Halpin would like to thank Paramount Pictures ‘The Longest Yard’, NASCAR, Huntington Honda and Ultra Motorsports for providing major sponsorship for the tournament. The plans for next year’s outing are in the making. This year’s event sold out before the formal invitations were even printed. After such a success, this will be a tough ticket to get next year!