On September 17^th, thirty-six teams of golfers came to the beautiful and challenging Orchard Park Country Club for the Fourth Annual Robert E. Rich Memorial "Drive Against Drugs" Golf Tournament to benefit the WNY United Against Drug & Alcohol Abuse Foundation. Each foursome enjoyed a warm and sunny afternoon of golf, food, raffles, giveaways, and camaraderie as they helped out local substance abuse prevention efforts. A large part of the success of the tournament can be attributed to second-year Event Sponsor W.H. Greene & Associates, Inc. and new Event Sponsor Greatbach, Inc. Both sponsors gave $5,000 in support and were each represented by four foursomes.

The competition was fierce, but at the end of the eighteen holes, the foursome representing Travers Collins & Company made up of Lynn Casteel, Jeff Schoenborn, Sean Schoenborn, and Matt Hasselback shot a 60 and took the Champions Cup. Coming in second place with a score of 61 was the foursome led by WNY United Foundation Vice President Urmas Lupkin. Phillips Lytle, LLP, who had won the previous two tournaments, came in third place by edging out the foursome from Ernst & Young, LLP on a match of cards tiebreaker. Jorge Weissof one of the Greatbatch foursomes won the "closest to the pin" contest with a shot that came to rest just nineteen inches from the hole. The "longest drive" contest winners were Mary Kasprzyk of the Computer Plus Staffing Solutions foursome and Brian McGlauchlan of the Niagara Label/R.G. Graphics foursome. Both John Livsey of the Buffalo Sabres and Bob Dizerof W.H. Greene actually sunk the putt and agreed to share the winnings of the putting contest held on the practice green. Kathy Peterson of Amherst won a set of 2007 Callaway X20 Irons custom fit at Orchard Park Country Club in a special raffle.

Once again, the tournament was held in honor of the memory of Robert E. Rich, founder of Rich Products Corporation and an avid golfer whose son, Robert E. Rich, Jr., and daughter-in-law, Mindy Rich, founded WNY United. WNY United board member Robert E. Rich III and WNY United Foundation board member Kim Rich Lupkin honored their late grandfather with some remarks before dinner and announced that their Dream Catcher Foundation would donate an additional $2,500 to support this year's tournament.

WNY United thanks the "Drive Against Drugs" planning committee made up of Jeff Pappalardo (Co-Chair), Alvino Battistoni (Co-Chair), Mike Buczkowski, Joe Ciffa, Tom Grys, Tim Walsh, Juliet Arnone, Tony Borowicz, Todd Callen, Mark Ricci, Adam Paul, Tonja Williams, and Robert E. Rich, III for making the tournament possible. Special thanks go to the Buffalo Bisons for their donation of tickets and sponsor prizes; Rich Products, Battistoni Italian Specialty Meats, Mineo & Sappio, Sahlen's, and Coca Cola for donating products; Crowley Webb and Associates for the design of all marketing pieces; Sports Collectors Corner for helping with the silent auction, "Closing the Gap" Program Site Facilitators for volunteering, and the Orchard Park Country Club staff for being so great to work with. After all expenses are paid and all fees collected, the event should clear $15,000 for our cause! Plans for next year's tournament are already underway. For more information on this event, call Matt Smith at 821-7722, ext. 14 or e-mail msmith@wnyunited.org.