Newhall-Gaffey tournament set to come to memorable conclusion

LYNN – Losing a loved one is hard enough, but seeing it happen twice in an 11-day span is something that is hard to fathom.For Tom Newhall and Tom Gaffey, that was the scenario that faced them 10 years ago, when Newhall’s wife, Ann, and Gaffey’s daughter, Shelli, passed away within that span.Through their shared grief came an idea: to hold a fundraising golf tournament to honor their memories and to help raise money for cures to brain aneurysms and juvenile diabetes that took their family members’ lives.Ten years later, the Newhall-Gaffey Benefit Golf Tournament has become one of the biggest events at Gannon Golf Course every summer as the membership turns out in full force to support it. However, this year’s tournament is set to be the final one.Neither Newhall nor Gaffey see the end of the tournament as a sad thing; instead, they look at it as something that felt right.”We kind of figured that 10 years was long enough,” Newhall said. “There are other people who could use the date and we thought that it was time to move on now. It is just hard to believe that it’s been 10 years.”Since its inception in 2000, the tournament has raised well over $200,000 for research into cures for brain aneurysms and juvenile diabetes. The funds have also gone towards local hospices and several scholarship funds, as well as towards Gannon’s thriving Junior Golf Program.”The reaction to what we’ve done is great,” Gaffey said. “Never did we think that we’d be able to do what we’ve done.”The story of how the tournament came into being speaks volumes about the character of its two founders, and to understand its popularity, you first must understand the way the membership at Gannon works, according to Newhall.”This is such a unique place here,” Newhall said. “It really is like a family and we support each other. I’ve always said that this was probably the most important place that I found in my life.”Out of the grief and healing following the funerals came the idea to start a golf tournament to help some good come of the tragic losses. From that idea grew something that has now become one of the big social events of the year at Gannon.”It really does seem just like we started this yesterday,” Gaffey said. “Now it’s amazing to see the amount of people that come to it every year.”This year’s tournament is being called “Our Final Goodbye” and is set to be a memorable sendoff to a standout event.A 12-piece orchestra will be on the veranda at Gannon, playing many different types of music, while a 12-to-15-minute fireworks display will also be lit off over the club’s 18th fairway.”We wanted this to be something that everyone would remember,” Gaffey said. “And Tommy and I wanted it to be our way of thanking them for everything they’ve done for us the last 10 years.”