Golfers flock to Leavitt tournament

ORONO – For the 10th consecutive year approximately 100 golfers jumped in carts and headed off in 18 different directions to their designated tees Monday at Penobscot Valley Country Club for the start of the Barbara and Bud Leavitt Memorial Golf Classic.

As the carts raced off one figure lingered on the sidewalk outside the clubhouse in the hot, midday sun, talking to people, shaking hands, making introductions. Congressman John Baldacci is used to this. Smiling, shaking hands and having a kind word for people is a big part of his business.

When the last hand had been shaken, Baldacci made his way to the first tee and joined his playing partners. One of his teammates was Rick O’Connor of Unicel, the founder of the tournament. By the end of the day, between the tournament and an auction of sports items, more than $20,000 will have been raised for the Jimmy Fund.

The Jimmy Fund is near and dear to the hearts of New Englanders. Through its association with the Boston Red Sox, millions of dollars have been raised at events such as the golf scramble for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s research and fight against cancer.

The discovery that the late Einar Gustafson of New Sweden was the original Jimmy brought even more local attention to the fund.

After the congressman hit his tee shot, a politically correct drive down the center of the fairway, he jumped into his cart and started down the hill only to come to a stop. He stepped out of the cart and walked back toward the tee box.

“I had to say something about Bud and Barbara Leavitt and what they mean to all of us,” Baldacci said. “I think that whether it was 120 degrees or 20 degrees people would be out here because they were such fine people. People feel that it’s important not just to be able to honor their memory but to do it in a way that will help others afflicted with cancer.”

The tournament first came about in 1991 when Bud Leavitt, a noted outdoorsman and NEWS sportswriter, who could call people such as baseball greats Ted Williams and Yogi Berra friends, approached O’Connor about a tournament that would honor Leavitt’s wife Barbara who had died of cancer.

“That’s how we started it in 1991, in Barbara’s name,” O’Connor said. “When Bud passed away [in 1994] we added his name to it.”

The scramble was played at Bangor Municipal Golf Course for its first two years before moving to Penobscot Valley Country Club.

In 1994, Bangor radio station WZON began conducting an annual radiothon auction. The money raised from the tourney and the radiothon is combined as a single donation to the fund.

“I think we will go over $200,000 this year in the amount we’ve raised for Dana-Farber,” O’Connor said.

People participate in the tourney for a variety of reasons. Some, such as Donn Fendler, whose days lost in the woods of Mount Katahdin as a young boy led to the book, “Donn Fendler, Lost On A Mountain In Maine,” is at the tournament because of friendship.

“I knew [Bud Leavitt] quite well. He was a wonderful, wonderful man. He invited me to this tournament and I haven’t missed one since. We used to lie to each other a lot about what great golfers we were,” Fendler said.

Alden Leavitt, Bud Leavitt’s cousin, is a regular at the tournament.

“It’s quite a tribute to Bud and Barbara too. We fished together many times. He was quite a character. He was a good guy,” Leavitt said.

University of Maine baseball coach Paul Kostacopoulos played in the tournament because it’s a way to make a contribution to a good cause.

“The most important thing is that we’re supporting a great cause. [Bud Leavitt] did so much for not only this cause but for so many causes in Eastern Maine. This gives us an opportunity to get out and support something and have a great time.”

And then there is Dennis Wallace of Bangor. He and his wife Rebecca’s personal experiences make the tournament special to them.

“We’re here because my wife’s first husband succumbed to cancer and we’ve had friends [who have had cancer,” he said. “The best thing I remember about Bud was that he used to have a radio show on WGUY. He always used to close his radio by saying, ‘This is Bud Leavitt wishing you a good day in the o-o-o-pen.'”

Then Wallace pauses and motions to the other people milling about outside the clubhouse.

“Like today,” he said with a smile. “It’s a good day in the o-o-open.”