Celebrity golf

Staten Island Advance - May 23, 2004

The highlight of the College of Staten Island (CSI) Foundation’s annual golf outing had nothing to do with a putter and a ball.

“Freeman McNeil, former New York Jet running back, will be attending along with former New York Jet Marty Lyons,” Donna Lindsey noted prior to the May 7 event. “Apparently they were teammates in the 80s.”

Ms. Lindsey, who serves as the Foundation’s event coordinator, said there were several other “non-golfers” who came out just for the function’s barbecue lunch and silent auction at the South Shore Country Club, Huguenot. There were some pretty impressive prizes up for bid, including autographed photos from cast members of “The Sopranos” and “Sex in the City,” and memorabilia signed by the late Jackie Robinson, Yankee manager Joe Torre, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and Yankee All-Star Derek Jeter. A one-week stay in a three-bedroom villa overlooking the 10th hole of the Harbourtown Golf Links in Hilton Head, S.C., was also up for grabs.

This year, the event welcomed a new chairperson - John Mazza, President of Adak Construction.

“He had tough shoes to fill when Jim Easley took over chairing Casino Night instead of the Golf Outing,” noted Ms. Lindsey.

Proceeds from the event benefited the CSI athletics department, student scholarships and student-leadership programs.