The Gannon Golf Course Men’s Inner Club held its Member’s Appreciation Sport Coat Night last weekend at the club.
The evening marked the return of what was once a traditional event at Gannon. It was designed as an event to honor the winners of the 2017 tournaments and to kick off the 2018 golf season at the course, which opened Tuesday.
The event was last held in 1977, according to longtime member Ozzie Gauvain, who was on hand for the event.
The winners for 2017 were club champion Ben Friedman, senior club champion Tom Ferraro and net club champion Mike Timmons.
The winners of Silver Classic were Paul Gorman and Faton Smarqku. The champions of the Gold Classic were Rob Thomas and Kevin Kennedy.
Spring four ball winners were Rick Chipouras and Jerry Worthylake, and the fall four ball champs were Bill Benevento and Stan Glowacz.
Doug Raleigh, Jerry Worthylake and Anthony Struppa were all recognized for their hole in ones last year as well.
The evening also recognized young adults across the North Shore from Lynn to Amesbury. The Chris Danahy Classic, which takes place every spring, is an annual golf tournament that remembers the longtime fellow member and past Inner Club treasurer/secretary who died in 2005.
Since Danahy’s death, his friends keep his memory alive by donating proceeds from the tournament, along with those from several other events, toward scholarships for young adults on the North Shore. This year it was changed a bit, giving back to the members children at Gannon heading off to college this year. Gannon Members came through in a big way, raising several thousand dollars, according to Inner Club president Bob Cross.
The Men’s Inner Club joined forces with the Women’s Inner Club and the Gannon Building Association both making donations for the event all supporting the program.
“The Danahy Classic, and turning it around for the members’ children. was really something special and hopefully this gets bigger and bigger every year,” Cross said. “The golf course and its entities are nothing without its members.
“The Gannon Family comes through time and time again and really need to let people know especially in Lynn and Swampscott where many of the Danahy’s reside,” Cross added.
