The "MARTY MARATHON"
JULY 18th, 2016
M
arty
Moraghan,
a
Litchfield native and 1991
Connecticut Golf Hall of
Fame inductee, served the
CSGA in a number of capacities including
20 years as Tournament Director. He passed
away in 2009 at age 93. July 18, 2016 would
have been Marty's 100th birthday.
To honor his father’s legacy and
to raise money for the CSGA’s Marty
Moraghan Scholarship, Marty’s son Mike,
the Executive Director of the CSGA played
a 100-hole marathon at Litchfield Country
Club on his father’s 100th birthday. Mike
wore a couple of shirts that had been his
father’s, used his father’s old leather golf
bag, and used a wooden shafted and wooden
headed putter that Mike’s mother had given
to Marty on their first wedding anniversary
in 1943.
Longtime friends Tony FitzGerald,
Ed Evers, Dick Weigold, Paul Stancs, Jason
Hogan, Tom Gleeton, Mark Bialobrzeski,
Bill Cremins, and Del Kinney joined Mike
for nine holes each before Ryan Zetterholm
and Mike played holes 82 through 99. The
final hole was played as a five-some with
additional friends and Litchfield members.
Individuals made pledges for “holes
played” and “birdies made” in what turned
out to be an incredible day of golf, and the
most successful fundraiser in the 60-year
history of the CSGA’s Scholarship Fund.
The day following the “Marty
Marathon” Mike described the event in
a detailed letter to all of the contributors.
Excerpts here as follows:
***
Litchfield Country Club's Head
Pro, AJ Ruwet greeted us at 5:30AM with
scorecards and a scoreboard listing all
the participants. Gib Sansing, LCC Golf
Chairman, played the National Anthem on a
little speaker near the first tee, and with that,
Tony FitzGerald and I were off.
Tony and I walked the first four
holes with AJ and Gib hauling our clubs in a
cart. By the time we reached the 5th tee our
shoes and socks were soaked from the dew
so we opted to ride. I managed to make three
birdies in the first nine holes, but with three
bogies and one quad my "front" nine score
76 / CONNECTICUT STATE GOLF ASSOCIATION / 2016 ANNUAL
was an uninspiring 39. With many people
having submitted a pledge for "number of
birdies made" in addition to "holes played"
I'll admit to rushing a bit on holes where one
or more awful shots negated any chance for
a birdie. At least that's my excuse for making
an eight on the second hole after making a
birdie 3 on the first!
36 holes into the day Jason Hogan
took over for Paul Stancs. Although Jason
never met my Dad, they had something
important in common, in addition to golf.
They were both born on July 18. So on his
21st birthday, and my Dad’s 100th, Jason
Hogan joined me for holes 37-45 of the
Marty Marathon.
AJ Ruwet was wrapping up one of
his junior clinics as Jason and I stepped up to
the first tee. There were somewhere between
a dozen and 20 small children all moving in
different directions and then stopping and
turning back in another direction as if they
had forgotten something. It was mild chaos
for a few seconds until AJ raised his voice
a bit and commanded, "Guys...Guys...over
here...we need everyone together over here
to sing Happy Birthday to Jason!" And just