Italian Day was Tuesday and the weather finally cooperated, kind of.  No rain and no tornadoes, but the heat index reached 113 degrees.  Far below is a full Italian Day recap.

Next up is Deer Creek on September 8^th.  It is a regular golf day along with an “In The Square” tournament.  We currently have 42 signed up for “In The Square” as well as 25 other members that will be golfing but not in the tournament.  Click the links above for the sign-up sheets for both the “In The Square” and the regular Deer Creek sign-up sheet.  Check the sheets and if you are not signed up yet, call the Hotline (815-242-1597).  

Some people are signed up on both sheets.  If you are one of those guys, call the hot line or Anthony right away so we know if you want to be in the tournament or not. 

Each “In The Square” team will consist of an A-B-C and D player to make up a four-man team.  All entries must be received by noon on Saturday Sept 5^th.  Saturday evening the computer will choose the teams keeping them as evenly matched as possible based on handicap index.  The cost for the tournament is $50 per player.  The “A” player on each team will collect the entry fee from his team and turn it in to Scott or Anthony with their scorecard.

You will receive more details when we send out the teams this weekend.

The weather has made this a very challenging year for Builders Tee Club golf. Italian Day was not immune to that difficulty.  It not only got rained out on its original date, but the golf course suffered severe damage. Thanks to a lot of hard work by Rich Schroeder, we did still have an Italian day this year. I was out there golfing in that crazy heat but unfortunately was unable to stick around for the dinner. I heard that things went pretty well.

Take a look at the Italian Day recap below or click HERE. You will see the names of a lot of people that deserve our thanks for volunteering to help out with this event. I also want to thank Larry Garetto. We haven't seen a lot of Larry lately but his generosity towards the Builders Tee Club never waivers. Thank you Larry for all the pizza on the course.  Once again, thank you Rich Schroeder. It's no easy task organizing this event. We all appreciate your hard work.

Anthony Serritella – BTC President

ITALIAN DAY RECAP

September 1, 2026

Well, the weather was very warm (98), and a very occasional breeze.  The day started with 66 players-(35 members and 31 guests) turning out at Glenwoodie Golf Club, at 8:30AM.  This year we played a SHAMBLE, and used a Peoria handicap system for all. Play commenced with a shotgun start at 10 AM.  Larry Garetto supplied pizza at the turn a bit earlier as our Pepper & Egg man, George Les was off on a trip to Greece.

The 12^th hole was manned by Scott Lee & Greg Lewis (he’s recovering well from his surgery) who collected a $5 contribution that paid $10 if you Beat-The-Pro.  Greg also took photos of each four-some.  Tim Magee manned the 14^th tee (hole-in-One prize was $20k, sponsored by the BTC).  The photos will soon be displayed on the website, click on “events” tab.  Golf continued into the afternoon, and by 3 PM, most of the groups had returned to the Clubhouse.  Dinner was served at 3:30 pm then followed by the raffles & golfing awards, and everyone was free to leave by 5:45 PM.  Dinner buffet was Pot Roast, Baked Cod, & Mostaccioli.  The deserts were homemade by Gino Maira, and co-sponsored by Arnie Carlstrom (WrigleyvilleSports.com).

We hope everyone enjoyed the day, because the committee worked very hard to pull this one off.  The turnout was slightly less than last year, since we had to reschedule the event given the course was flooded on the original date of 8/18. Hole Sponsor contributions help to avoid the club subsidy. As long as the participation continues to be strong, I expect this event & venue will be included in next year’s golf season.

Those listed below certainly went way beyond the call of duty.  They worked various times during the day, including the awards celebration afterward:

Larry Garetto & George Les                            Major donors

Scott Lee & Greg Lewis                                   Beat-The-Pro-#12

Joe Bonarigo                                                    Cigars

Scott Lee                                                            Scoring & Awards

Bob Vizdal & Bill Lillwitz                                  Check-in

Tim Magee                                                          Witness for HIO car-#14      

Larry Garetto                                                     Beggars food table

Dave Downey                                                     Beer keg sponsor

All golfers 65 years+ teed off from the green tee box, while all others played from the white tees.  The best tee shot was chosen and each finished the hole with their own ball.  Each group was required to use 3 tee shots from each player.  A “Peoria Handicap” was calculated and awards were distributed after golf from 2 prize pools, Members & Guests.

Let’s not forget the Glenwoodie Staff, Phil Robbins, Golf Club Professional & Clara-Catering, for coordinating their staff and making the course & banquet the best ever!  The course was in fine shape, and Laurel, manning the drink cart came by plenty of times to be sure we didn’t run thirsty.

More thanks to the members that invited guests to this event.  Many members invited 2-7 guests to play, which helps fill out the event.  The re-scheduling of the event presented a few challenges, but there were many members that stepped up to fill in the few that had to cancel for various reasons.  There is no excuse to not invite a friend to play in next year’s outing.  Another successful outing, considering the delay from the very serious storm damage 2 weeks earlier.

There were golf course foursomes & gift cards awarded as this year’s door prizes, along with raffle prizes from Al Baldermann, Gino Maria and Glenwoodie & Silver Lakes Golf Clubs.  Be sure to buy each of these guys (and the hole sponsors) with a drink while thanking them.

To wrap things up, I’d like to thank everyone that participated.  This year we were again short of our goal (120 players were projected). Please tell your guests to visit our website, https://builderstee.com/specialevents.html, to print a copy of their 4-some photo (s/b posted by 9/17) and read this copy of the newsletter.  If they wish to follow-up with an application, it can also be found there, under the “Club Information” tab.  Please feel free to offer your suggestions about this event, and excuse me if you contributed & your name was not mentioned.

All contest winners were paid out at the dinner.

Thanks for your support,

Rich Schroeder & Committee, 708.878.3913