Leavitt tourney returns Benefit golf event slated for Aug. 4

After a two-year hiatus, the Bud and Barbara Leavitt Memorial golf tournament is getting back into the swing of things this summer.

The tournament will commence with a shotgun start at noon on Monday, Aug. 4, at Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono. Registration starts at 11 a.m.

The tournament honors former Bangor Daily News Executive Sports Editor Bud Leavitt and wife Barbara and benefits the Jimmy Fund, the fund-raising arm of Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Both Bud and Barbara Leavitt succumbed to cancer, Barbara in 1990 and Bud in 1994.

The fee is $125 per person or $400 for a foursome and includes 18 holes, a cart, dinner, a chance to win some prizes and a goody bag.

The event hits home for tournament director Doug Quagliaroli, owner of McDonald’s D&L Management Co. in Bangor. He is a cancer survivor.

“Eleven years ago I had [esophageal] cancer, and my grandson, who is 5, came down with leukemia in November,” he explained.

Quagliaroli’s grandson, Luciano, is a patient at Dana-Farber and recently threw out the first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game. He also attended Fantasy Day at Fenway Park and got to run the bases, hit some pitches, tour the Sox locker room and even had his name displayed on the scoreboard.

“It’s something that I can feel good about getting involved in and trying to get back to,” said Quagliaroli.

“Eighty to 90 percent” of the funds raised at the tournament will go to the Jimmy Fund, Quagliaroli said.

“Another thing I was really impressed with about the Jimmy Fund was the percentage of money required to go [toward the foundation],” he added.

The tournament had always been successful, but Unicel stopped sponsoring the event in 2005, leaving it without a major sponsor.

Quagliaroli and McDonald’s have stepped in, and things are going smoothly thus far in bringing the tournament back.

“I’d like to think through the help the Bangor Daily News is giving [and with] a lot of posters up in different business, we should be able to get right back on track. It looks like the acceptance has been really good so far this year,” he said.

There are plenty of sponsorship options available, from the $250 birdie sponsor, which includes signage along the course and banner recognition, all the way up to the $5,000 naming sponsor, which includes playing slots for three foursomes, a post-tournament dinner for 12, foursome photo frames and personalized banner recognition, inclusion in all advertising and signage on the course.

Even though Quagliaroli got a late start in promoting the tournament, spots are filling up.

“My goal is to have 25 foursomes or 100 people, and we seem to be moving well in that direction,” he said. “As long as there are openings I’ll definitely fill them.”

Plenty of prizes will be up for grabs, including a new car for anyone who records a hole-in-one on a particular hole. Sets of golf clubs, putters, drivers and several round-trip tickets to any destination in the United States, courtesy of Bangor Travel, are among the other prizes.

There also will be a silent auction held in conjunction with the post-tourney dinner at 5:30 p.m.

Quagliaroli said it was a no-brainer as far as retaining the tournament’s original name.

“For a couple reasons, one I think Bud is an extremely well-recognized name, he was probably the strongest [in the] women’s movement in terms of sports in the state of Maine, both in bringing in reporters and reporting on women’s athletics in the state,” he explained.

“That’s the name, the Bud and Barbara Leavitt Memorial Golf Tournament, and it will remain that way.”

Now that McDonald’s is the primary sponsor, Quagliaroli hopes things will stay that way for years to come.

“We’re looking forward to it as a long-term event in the state of Maine,” he said.

Quagliaroli added he hopes his grandson will be able to attend the tourney.

rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net

990-8193