Date: Fri 02-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

CSO-Jackie-Kennedy-Burke

Full Text:

Two Area Special Athletes In Golf Tournament: Martin Burke, Jackie Kennedy

Come Home With Medals

(with photo)

BY SHANNON HICKS

For the first time in the CT Special Olympics/Greater Danbury Area history,

two athletes participated earlier this month in a statewide golf tournament.

The event was Saturday, September 12, and after all the tees were collected

and the golf clubs cleaned up and put away, Martin Burke and Jacqueline

(Jackie) Kennedy came home with medals for their efforts.

Mary won the gold for his performance in the Skill 14 division. Mary has been

involved in Special Olympics for 26 years. In addition to his golf, he bowls

and competes on the track and field teams. "I like doing everything," he said.

Jackie, who competed in the Skill 21 division, added another silver medal to

her collection of Special Olympics medals. Jackie is also a player on Greater

Danbury Area soccer, softball and volleyball teams. She will be starting

downhill skiing for the first time later this year.

The golf tournament was at Race Brook Country Club in Orange, which regularly

hosts Special Olympics golf events. That club's golf pro, Frank Selva, is on

the World Special Olympics Golf Committee.

Earlier this summer, CSO/Danbury's local coordinator, Kevin Cooper, called

Richter Park in Danbury to see if there would be any interest in supporting a

golf team. The golf course's golf pro, Ralph Salito, Jr, said this week the

response was an immediate "Yes!"

Mr Cooper, who works at DATAHR in Brookfield, had a few people he thought was

interested in playing golf, including Jackie Kennedy. Mr Salito knew of Marty

Burke, whose brother frequently plays on the Richter course, from meeting up

with him on several occasions at the course.

Mr Salito volunteered his time one day a week to coach Jackie and Marty. The

team worked on Richter's miniature golf course, learning to putt and how to

use different clubs for different situations.

Richter Park is probably the most renowned public golf course in the state. It

has been consistently rated among the top 25 public courses in the country for

the past decade, so the Special Olympians were training at a top-notch

location.

"These two really do much better than most of the people I see playing here,"

said Mr Salito. "They're on top of the world when they get here."

In addition to their practice sessions at Richter, Jackie and Marty also

worked with Jim Russo and the staff at Golf Quest in Brookfield. According to

Mr Cooper, "The people at Golf Quest gave [Jackie and Marty] instruction and

allowed them to use the facilities, free of charge, to help hone their skills

when they're not working with Ralph."

Prior to the state CSO golf tournament, Jackie and Marty were both invited to

play in Richter's annual Fran McCarthy Jr Tournament. Jackie and Marty

competed in their own division, which gave them their first taste of

competitive golf.

The state tournament at Race Brook was divided into three different playing

levels. Some athletes competed in skills assessment, where they were judged on

different shots they took. Others were in alternate shot-team play, where a

pair of golfers would walk the course and play nine holes while alternating

who took the shots. For the advanced players, the third division was

individual play, where an athlete played a round of nine on his or her own.

Jackie and Marty both compete in different skills levels, based on their age.

"You did your driving range, then you did your five iron, then a sand-wedge

shot, and then you did a long putting and the short putting," Jackie said last

week. "You got points for each different shot."

"It was a pretty course, it was nice," Marty said. "I had never been there

before, and I had a great time."

Even though the state tournament has been played and golf is officially closed

for the season in the eyes of Special Olympics, Mr Salito has invited the

Special Olympians to continue training with him at Richter for another month

before packing it in for the winter.

"We certainly welcome [Jackie and Marty], and encourage anyone else who would

like to become involved in this program. We hope to expand it as time goes

on," Mr Salito said last week.

"This has turned into one of my favorite programs," Mr Cooper said. "The

people at Richter Park and Golf Quest have been so supportive and so helpful,

this has exceeded my expectations. It's been really fun.

"Marty's the coolest guy, and Jackie is great. Everybody's been very positive

and enthusiastic. We're looking forward to making this an annual event," he

added.

That's certainly good news to Jackie Kennedy, who said last week she was ready

to do this again, "in a heartbeat!"

Athletes interested in joining the CT Special Olympics program in the greater

Danbury area are encouraged to call Kevin Cooper, the local coordinator, at

740-5195 extension 319.