PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS Day Evening Winners

"This tournament was our biggest success and I can't imagine a better place for the funds to go than our community hospital," said tournament co-chair Chris Luechtefeld of Morgan Stanley in Valencia.

Owner of Valencia Acura and tournament co-chair Don Fleming also expressed excitement about the extensive funds raised. "Anytime you can raise money for a worthy cause such as our community hospital, it's a wonderful feeling," Fleming said.

Santa Clarita Valley community members, including 180 golfers and 150 volunteers, participated in the day-long event held on the spectacular greens of the Valencia Country Club. The tournament began with a 9 a.m. tee time. Throughout the day, players participated in putting contests and hole-in-one opportunities in which they could win an automobile from the tournament's Title Sponsor, Frontier Toyota. The event's many sponsors included new benefactor Santa Clarita Home Health System as well as The Magazine of Santa Clarita and Medline Industries.

In the evening, golfers and guests retreated to a tent above the greens, where attendees purchased raffle tickets and bid on numerous silent and live auction items ranging from one-week vacations to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and a seven-day Caribbean cruise, to a one-year membership with the Valencia Country Club, a Tag Heuer Men's Watch and an opportunity to participate in the 2007 AT&T Classic.

Excitement filled the air as a new contest at the tournament made its debut. Circling in a helicopter, pilot John Tamburro dropped more than 1,500 numbered golf balls toward a target on the country club's driving range which were purchased for $20 apiece. As the balls plummeted, a wave of enthusiasm reverberated among the event's attendees. The owners of the two closest balls to land within the circle target won $5,000 and $1,000, respectively. The golf ball drop was a big success, raising about $15,000 of net profit to benefit the hospital," Luechtefeld said.

Throughout the evening, cheers rang out among the guests as the winning golf teams were announced.

The tournament's first place gross winners, representing American Pacific Industries — also the gross winners in 2005 — included: Tucker Brown, Bob Burns, Casey Kirkman, Rick Robb and James Forsyth.

The first place net winners, representing title sponsor Frontier Toyota, included: Frontier Toyota owner and the tournament's honorary chair, Joe Caso and teammates John Berman, Bruce Cohn, Thomas Caso and Scott Slavis.

Physicians sponsoring the event included: Douglas Gadowski, M.D.; Richard Goldman, M.D.; Roger D. Haring, M.D.; Rajinder Kaushal, M.D.; Mark A. Liker, M.D.; David Mysko, M.D.; Peter Nicolazzo, M.D.; Anthony Panasci, M.D.; Sheika Sahib,; M.D. Robert Schaefer, M.S.; Michael Shapiro, M.D.; Arnold Vinstein, M.D.; Robert Zimmerman, M.D.; Valencia Gynecology Associates; Cecelia Hann, M.D.; and Don J. Nishiguchi, M.D.

Immediately prior to dinner, guests listened as steel drums played. The rhythmic sounds were a precursor to the Caribbean-themed decorations and cuisine to be served.

Golf enthusiast and life insurance specialist Corky Knight, a Valencia resident who has been involved in each of the hospital's golf classic tournaments for the past 33 years and who has served as a co-chair for 17 years, said he was thrilled with the evolution of the tournament throughout its history.

"It's been incredible to see how much the community has been able to raise for the hospital during the past 33 years," said Knight, who served as the tournament's co-chair for the final time last year in the hopes of providing other community members an opportunity to infuse their ideas and enthusiasm into one of the most successful tournaments of its kind in the Santa Clarita Valley.

For Knight, who plans to stay involved with the tournament for years to come, the annual event combines his passion for golf with the opportunity to give back to the hospital that cared so dearly for his family.

Four years earlier, his mother, Betty Knight, had suffered from an aneurysm. Corky Knight said he would never forget the compassion displayed by the hospital's Emergency Department staff in caring for his mother. The nurse in charge at the Hospital's Emergency Department beckoned him and his brother to the hospital so the two siblings could spend time with their mother before she passed away.

"My mother was dying and the hospital staff was keeping her alive so that my brother and I could say goodbye," Knight recalled.

"I'll never ever forget that. The Golf tournament is really something I love to do for both the hospital and the community. I feel like it's been my calling."

To participate in next year's golf tournament, please contact the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Health Foundation at (661) 253-8082.