BOSTON — The Dell Technologies Championship is less than a month away at TPC Boston and Wednesday afternoon, the crew organizing the FedEx Playoff event staged a charity shootout of a different sort.
Eighteen teams were vying for a $25,000 donation to the charities they represented. Whoever got it closest to the pin, positioned deep in the triangle 148 yards away, would win the money for their charity.
Each team featured a player selected by the charity and a media member.
Representing the media were Boston 25's Tom Leyden, David Wade and Steve Burton from WBZ, sportscaster Jayme Parker, Tom E. Curran from NBC Sports Boston, John Buccigross from ESPN, Rich Shertenlieb from CBS Radio and the "Toucher and Rich" program, Bob Halloran from WCVB and former Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, representing NESN.
The charities included the Boys and Girls Club of Boston, the Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester, the Doug Flutie Foundation, the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund, Golf Fights Cancer, the Hockomock YMCA, MassGeneral Hospital for Children, MassGolf and the Red Sox Foundation.
The detail of today's action is best wrapped up in a series of tweets from Tom Leyden:
The 2018 Dell Technologies Championship Charity Shootout kicked off with Chase Woodsum and @TomLeyden representing the Boys and Girls Club of Boston! pic.twitter.com/HlMsOeW3ei
— DellTechChampionship (@DellTechChamp) August 1, 2018
Nine teams competing to earn a $25,000 payout to the charity they represented. Chase and I repping the Boys and Girls Club of Boston. Each charity repped by a selected player and a media member. We hit alphabetically by charity so we went first. No practice shots.
— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) August 1, 2018
Chase is former captain of @Princeton golf team so he goes first. We’re hitting from the dirt behind the plate at Fenway to the triangle 430 feet away. 148 yards. Chase goes nine iron. Short. So I decide to hit an eight iron and see what’s up.
— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) August 1, 2018
I strike the ball well. Good trajectory. Good distance. Ball goes over wall to right of triangle, past Sox bullpen and into the bleachers. Cool. I hit a homer. But is it a good shot? Yes. They measure from the seats too and I’m not too far away from pin. Probably 20-25 feet.
— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) August 1, 2018
We wait but remain in the lead as other teams hit. @davidwade Jayme Parker @tomecurran @Buccigross Rich from @toucherandrich - @steveburtonwbz puts it inside of us to left of pin. @BobWCVB also gets closer than us so we are third. Top three teams advance to final.
— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) August 1, 2018
Tim Wakefield steps up. Final contestant. If he gets it inside of me, we are out. Been sitting pretty through 15 shots. Wake drills it within 5 feet. Son of a gun. We’re knocked out of third place. Halloran lets his partner hit - MA amateur champ. 15 feet. Burton hits. 11 feet.
— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) August 1, 2018
Comes down to Wakefield again. This time he does exactly what I did on my first shot. Almost a carbon copy. Over pen into bleachers. 25 feet. Burton wins for Hockomock YMCA - $25,000. Fun time. I hated rooting against Wake but he hit the shot of the day. Cool as cucumber
— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) August 1, 2018
Congratulations to the Hockomock YMCA for a well-deserved $25,000 prize.
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