July 19, 2010 was a gorgeous day to be at the New England debut of the Audi quattro Cup
on the summit of golf course locations in the country, Granite Links. Only here can you use the Prudential Center and Hancock Tower as directional markers. Appropriately named quattro, not only after the car, groups of four traversed the quarries and 300 feet of elevation change in teams of two. There was also an opportunity for four players to win a brand new Audi on each of the par 3 holes if a player made a hole-in-one.
The Audi quattro Cup is the largest amateur tournament in the world. In 2009, the Audi dealers from 47 different countries organized a total of 730 Audi Quattro cup tournaments with over 82,000 amateur golf participants worldwide. Established in 1991, over one million golfers have taken part in one of the tournaments during the last 19 years.
The weather was almost perfect, if it were not for the mid-afternoon thunderstorm that only lasted a few minutes, but just long enough to soak the Gina Cigars and the girls. Afterwards, they remained as lovely as before, and since we share the spread in the magazine each month, it was appropriate that we share a photo together.
Only the maintenance crew did not feel it rained enough. In an interview with Stan Abrams, the leadership of Granite Links, he expressed
his wish for rain, at least every night, as the high elevation with the whipping wind and the absorption of the 19 million cubic yards of dirt beneath makes it difficult to keep the greens green.
The tournament benefits Best Buddies, a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Its founder, Anthony Kennedy Shriver, gave a speech at the opening ceremonies to kick off the tournament. He founded the organization with a single chapter and today it has grown to over 1,500 chapters across the country as well as internationally. The volunteer movement impacts over 700,000 individuals each year. If you are not already familiar with this extraordinary cause, Tom Brady has been an advocate for over 10 years. He takes part in the Best Buddies challenge, a 50-mile bike ride from Carver to Craigsville Beach.
After the tournament, there was an eloquent dinner in the banquet room of the clubhouse as the hues of orange, red, and purple danced over the skyline of the city. One of Tom Brady’s best buddies, whom apparently learned a few pointers from Tom, made ten touchdown passes into the crowd with footballs signed by the star, all to benefit the Best Buddies foundation.
The first and second-place teams are advancing to the United States finals Aug. 27-29 at Kiawah Island in South Carolina. The world finals will be Oct. 8-12 in Sardinia, Italy.
View the On the Scene section of New England Golf Monthly to see photos of many of the amateurs that competed in the 2010 Audi quattro Cup. On the links, it doesn’t feel like a city atmosphere, but after obtaining all those Irish names of players, there was no doubt I was still in Boston.
