Golf tourney raises $75k

Posted on 25 July 2013 by LeslieM

Pages 09-16By Gary Curreri

Friends of Frankie keep turning out year after year.

The sixth annual Frankie Foundation Golf Tournament at Woodlands Country Club in Tamarac recently pulled in $75,000. In addition to the money raised, it also raised awareness for automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

The location may have moved during the six years of the annual Frankie Foundation Golf Tournament; however, one thing hasn’t changed – people still care. A record number of 242 golfers recently turned out for the tourney, whose proceeds go toward the purchase of AEDs and scholarships to local high school students.

It was the most players ever by 12 and we had a waiting list of 30,” said Frankie Foundation Vice President Mike Goodrich, of Coral Springs. “The course is different and the banquet facility is different. We are excited about that because we were able to dress up the banquet facility and be able to accommodate all of us now, so the synergy we were able to generate there would continue what is coming off the course into there.”

Tammy Good, Shane Munson, Tracey Adcock and Dave Anderson carded a 59 to top all golfers on the east course, while Doug Kingera, Eric Depp, Hernan Millan, Hilarion Millan shot a 61 to win on the west course.

The tournament once again honored Frankie Speciale, who died of a massive heart attack while playing in a recreational men’s soccer league match in Deerfield Beach in 2007. Even though the 1982 graduate of Pompano Beach High School was given CPR immediately, his life could not be saved. It is believed an automated external defibrillator might have made the difference in him surviving.

Goodrich, who was a classmate of Speciale’s, said the tournament has grown over the years. The first tournament at Colony West drew a capacity crowd of 144 golfers. It then moved to Palm Aire Country Club in Pompano before ClubLink owners of both Palm Aire and Woodlands suggested the tournament move to Woodlands because its banquet facility can accommodate the 242 golfers.

We’ve raised more than a half million dollars in six years,” Goodrich said. “We have given out more than 40 AEDs to cities, churches, charities, Kids in Distress, Sheridan House and other foundations.”

Goodrich said the Frankie Foundation still has the same sponsors and vendors since it started including One Step CPR, the presenting title sponsor. Goodrich said the scramble/best ball tournament is run totally by volunteers and all of the proceeds go toward the scholarships and AEDs.

Lon Rosen, of One Step CPR, hopes to generate awareness and teach people the importance of having a defibrillator at golf courses and different athletic events.

People don’t even know what a defibrillator is,” Rosen said. “We are just scratching the surface. We want to send a message through the Frankie Foundation of what an AED [is].”

Rosen noted that Sudden Cardiac Arrest is a leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 325,000 deaths each year, and that it claims a life every two minutes.

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