Providing Tek support: Red Sox, fans putt up some numbers at charity mini golf outing

By Ethan Forman
Staff writer

June 10, 2008 12:24 am

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Red Sox center fielder Coco Crisp took Salem resident Jackie Harrington's blue golf ball from her and scored a hole in one with it.

Tom Howe, 22, of Peabody, who lost his right leg to bone cancer, never thought he would be playing mini golf with the likes of Crisp and knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

Jim Baker of Ipswich got to bump fists with ace closer Jonathan Papelbon after he two-putted one hole, and then got to pose with reliever Mike Timlin at another.

"I love the Sox," Baker said. "It's a great thing. It shows how generous they are with their time. It's a day off during the middle of the season. ... What a way to spend the afternoon."

Residents from around the North Shore and across New England got to rub elbows and shake World Series ring-wearing hands with the likes of Crisp, Wakefield, Papelbon and Sox catcher Jason Varitek during Varitek's third annual Celebrity Putt-Putt tournament, which drew 1,100 to the stands at the Ferncroft Country Club in Middleton.

Spectators paid $23 to sit in the stands while sponsors paid thousands to play and put their name on a miniature golf course specially built for the fundraiser.

On a rare night off for the Sox, last night's lineup also included shortstop Julio Lugo, backup catcher Kevin Cash, pitcher Javier Lopez, pitcher Jon Lester and center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.

This was the first time the Celebrity Putt-Putt played through Middleton, having been held in Medford for the past two years. The temporary course was built in a week and will be dismantled.

The putt-putt involved fans going from hole to hole and getting autographs, pictures and advice on their short game from Red Sox players.

"Just keep your head down," Timlin said. "You've got to keep your head down and get it close to the hole. They told me if you get it close to the hole you can almost make it."

The event benefited Saints Medical Center in Lowell and Celebrities for Charity Foundation, which provides local charities with celebrity visits to events and autographed memorabilia to be used for fundraising.

Before the benefit, Varitek said he appreciated players, some of whom may be banged up, for taking time to raise money for his causes.

"Pretty much our whole medical staff is already here," Varitek said. "It's hard to really expect guys to show up, but if they have time, and they are able to, it's such a big bonus and such a big help."

Players said they were glad to support their captain.

"I'm here really to support Tek," said Lester, who threw a no-hitter this year and was the winning pitcher in Game 4 of the World Series last year, but had never played in a charity mini golf fundraiser before.

"He's a teammate of ours, and he does a lot for us," Lester said, "and the least we can do is come out here and show support for his charity."

"Jason is doing a great event," Lugo said. "He's doing a lot of things for the people, and we need to support him."

"This is our way of just extending our family," Timlin said. "And we are having a good time."

Melissa Korpusik, 31, a paralegal from Salem, and Marc Pugliese, 30, an auto insurance adjuster also from Salem, got a picture taken with Lugo and marveled at Fenway mascot Wally the Green Monster.

"It was really cool, we were just up there, and Julio Lugo was signing autographs from the kids, and I was trying to take pictures, and he stopped and he posed for me," Korpusik said. "They are all really kind of neat."

Crisp, who used to live in Middleton, wanted to give Harrington a little luck by using her ball to sink a hole in one.

"It's a thrill," Harrington said. "The whole day was great. He's my hero," she said about Crisp, with whom she posed for a picture.

Don Howe of Peabody, a service manager for Eastern Propane, a sponsor of the event, invited Harrington, who works at the Hardcover Restaurant on Route 1 in Danvers, along with Hardcover manager Bruce Canario of Woburn, to play.

Howe's son, Tom, not only got to meet Wakefield and Crisp, but got a big hello from Papelbon.

"What's up, guy? What's up, Tommy?" Papelbon said.

Papelbon even became a mini golf course architect. He picked up some grass mats that acted as obstacles to the hole and placed them behind the cup to improve the golfers' odds.

"I'm changing the course, yeah!" said Papelbon, who also used his putter as pool cue to sink a putt.

Papelbon said he came out to support Varitek and his causes.

"It's fun to come out here and give the guys hell when they hit it like that," he said as a golfer shanked a putt.

Before the spectators arrived, some of the Sox players got to shoot around the course with their families.

"We are trying to make it family-friendly," Varitek said, "so that teammates and people ... instead of just doing a charity event can come out, and maybe their kids can have a little fun."

Before the event, Varitek's daughter, Ally, 8, got to take a giant African spurred tortoise for a walk on a leash as it went hunting for clover. The 50-pound, 11/2-foot long tortoise, named Shiloh, was provided by the Zoo in Forest Park in Springfield, which was there with animals for kids to see.

"She has a better chance of getting a dog than a turtle," Varitek said of his daughter's desire to get a pet.

Michael Lynch of Plaistow, N.H., and his 14-year-old son, Michael Lynch II, an eighth-grader at Timberlane Regional Middle School, where having the kind of family night Varitek spoke about.

Michael's dad won the putt-putt outing through a WAAF radio contest. They started their round with Sox strength coach David Page.

"I'm psyched, really psyched," said the younger Lynch. As for his favorite player, "I like Dice-K for pitching, but I like Varitek because I've always been a catcher."

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