September 14, 2024 – The Chornomorska SITCH sports club and Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey (UACCNJ) once again combined efforts to run their annual golf outing, which was held at Sunset Valley Golf Course in Pompton Plains, NJ. The event was a great success with all proceeds generated from the event to benefit children and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
The weather and course conditions were absolutely perfect for the maximum 104 golfers who showed up to demonstrate their golf skills. The format for the outing was a 4 man scramble (best ball) competition. There were some very competitive scores posted for the day, but the team of Mike Zawadiwskyi, Mykola Zawadiswskyi, Danylo Holowaty and Brian Lattanzio turned in the best score for the Open division with a -9 under par. The Senior division also proved to be equally as competitive with 2 teams posting scores of -6 under par and sharing the honors. Jarema Kochan captained one team with Yuri Kobziar, Peter Strutynsky and Don Zalucky. The co-champion team golfers included Roman Hirniak, Alex Popovich, Steve Nahorniak and Nichola Salata.
The outing also challenged the golfers with closest to the pin and long drive competitions. The closest to the pin honors went to Nestor Paslawsky who nestled his shot within 6 feet 2 inches of the Par 3 15th hole. The longest drive competition went to Mike Panycia who bombed his drive down the 9th fairway, out distancing all other 103 golfers.
After the last putt was sunk, golfers made their way to the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Whippany, NJ where great accommodations, food, drink and camaraderie were shared. At this gathering, outing organizer Jarema Kochan spoke to all in attendance. He thanked all golfers who came out to support the event, he thanked all the volunteers who helped in preparation and during the event. He also thanked the many sponsors who help make the event a success every year. Lastly, he thanked and presented the microphone to Katia Kucyna, who prepared a very nice slide presentation and spoke about how some proceeds from last years golf outing were used to help the many children of Ukraine. The slideshow included pictures of the recipient children in Ukraine and reminded all who were present that the proceeds generated from this event are once again going to a good cause.
The outing festivities closed out with two final fundraising activities. First, Alex Popovich kindly donated some of his golf memorabilia for auction to raise funds for the children and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. Second, the winner of the 50/50 raffle was announced with a shout out going to Michael Zawadiwskyi who donated $500 of his winnings to the children of Ukraine.
Thanks to all for supporting our Ukrainian events. Also, special thanks to all golfers who provided Nash Sport with pictures and videos from the outing. We greatly appreciate the extra effort and we have attached some of them for your viewing pleasure.
Slava Ukraini.
