117 Holes FOR Children's Raises $700K+ For Second Consecutive Year
One Day. 117 Holes. 40 Miles. 105K+ Steps.
Several NYSGA members, including President Jamie Miller, six-time NYSGA champion Billy Hanes and three-time champion Jeff Wolniewicz, participated in the 6th annual 117 Holes FOR Children's golf marathon to support the Oishei Children's Hospital (OCH); specifically the Patricia Allen Fund, which supports nurses and critical care teams who serve moms, kids and babies in Western New York.
“Doing this to support Oishei Children’s Hospital here in Buffalo is special,” said Craig Burn’s Head Golf Professional Frank LaForce, PGA. “It adds to our respect for what they do day in and day out.”
Miller, Hanes and Wolniewicz have been involved since the event’s inception in 2020. What used to be a classic charity golf tournament has morphed into a unique and fascinating twist on the Youth on Course annual 100 Hole Hike that occurs across the country.
“It’s an unbelievable cause,” said Wolniewicz. “Everybody that’s from this area can see what impact OCH has. The work they do for kids and families, it’s just a really cool organization that everybody is proud to support.”
Twenty golfers, who serve on the OCH Board of Directors, played on Tuesday from sunrise to sunset. Early on, as the event was gaining momentum, golfers would play 100 holes. That was until Buffalo Bill quarterback Josh Allen became involved with the event in 2024. It was then extended to 117 holes.
“We used to have a charity golf tournament for the Children’s Hospital that morphed into this,” Miller said. “It’s a community and we all stick together…Golfers know a lot of people that run companies that can donate money, so that’s really helpful as well.”
This year marked a record-breaking event with over $800K raised for the Patricia Allen Fund. It’s the second consecutive year that donations have eclipsed $700K. The year-over-year growth in donations has been substantial. The first year brought in just shy of $100K. Half a decade later, donations are rapidly approaching $1M.
“It’s kind of mind blowing,” said Wolniewicz. “We went from $83K to I think $130K, $230K, $330K then it was $770K (last year). Now to see for a second year in a row do three quarters of a million, that’s what OCH means to this community and the area it serves.”
Other NYSGA members in attendance include Dan Misko, Jon Notarius, Matt Davison, Matt Vukelic, John Ticco III, Chris Eckert, John Russo, David Pfalzgraf, Eric Wood, Joe Burwick, Jake Woodrich, Joe Mills, Ryan Miller, Mike Jantzi, CJ Montante, Jack Tebeau and Chris Stegemann.
“The rewarding part is hopefully we’re building a tournament that other clubs will take on not just across New York State but across the US to support their facilities and their own areas," added LaForce.
To learn more about this event, please click here.
