“I have a zest for life that just won’t quit,” says golfer Fred Conti.
At age 84, Conti still makes it to the Poland Spring Golf Club for the 7 a.m. tee off almost every day. Just this June, Conti made the stroke he’d waited a lifetime for, the elusive hole-in-one. While playing a round with fellow golfer Fred Dipalma, Conti swung a 115-yard stroke with a seven iron, landing the ball in the hole.
“It’s something you think would never happen,” Conti said. “You hit that one shot and it keeps you coming back.”
Conti, who lives with his wife Vi in Windham, is well known in the greater Portland golfing community, not for trophy cups and tournament prizes, but for helping out with area tournaments such as the Maine Open and the Greater Portland Open.
For the twelfth year in a row, Conti is the official starter of the Greater Portland Open that takes place this week at the Riverside Golf Course in Portland. The open features both an amateur and pro golf tournament and brings in golfers from across the country and outside the United States. As the starter, Conti acts as the timekeeper of the tournament, responsible for making sure the golfers tee off on time and that the event runs smoothly.
“The pro golfers are wonderful people and excellent to work with,” Conti said. “They’re all gentlemen on the golf course.”
New sponsorship from Banknorth has raised the stakes for this year’s open, increasing the purse for the pro tournament with $15,000 going to the champion. Bill May, pro golfer and instructor at Riverside Golf Course, is excited about the prospects for the tournament.
“This is a dream for us,” May said of the new sponsorship and the tournament this year. “We’ve got great players playing. It’s huge.”
Holes on the Riverside course are reversed for the tournament with the front nine becoming the back nine. This creates a stadium effect on 18th hole that makes it ideal for spectators of the tournament says Conti.
Proceeds from the Greater Portland Open go to benefit the Barron Center in Portland. Formerly known as the Portland City Hospital, the Barron Center is a long-term care facility that has been around for over 200 years. Proceeds from the Open are used to buy needed supplies such as eyeglasses, teeth, hearing aids for residents of the Barron Center.
“We have always provided care to the citizens of Portland and surrounding towns,” said Tonya Heskett, Director of Recreational Therapy and Community Relations at the Barron Center. “Whatever the need is, we’re here for them.”
The fundraising for the Barron Center and his love of the game keeps Conti coming back to the Open to serve as the starter each year. Throughout his life, Conti has been been involved in community service. A veteran of WWII and the Korean War, Conti has been an active member of the Lions Club, serving as District Governor for the Lions International in 1972. He has also worked extensively with patients at the cancer center of the Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida. Conti said he was able to communicate well with patients because he could empathize and relate to their suffering.
Back in 1996, Conti was diagnosed with Lymphoma. He had gone in for a routine checkup and was on the golf course when his wife received the call from the doctor. Though Conti was told he only had a matter of months to live, Conti survived through years of Chemotherapy and credits a new experimental cancer drug, Rituxan, for ultimately saving his life.
“Every day is a bonus day,” Conti said. “You get up and look it all over and say ‘look at another wonderful day.'”
Conti plans to continue helping out at the Greater Portland Open for years to come. The pro tournament for the Greater Portland Open will run through this weekend at the Riverside Golf Course with two pro golfers from Windham, Daniel Falone and David Grygiel, participating.
After the tournament, Conti will return to his daily golf routine at the Poland Spring Golf Club, where he has been a member since 1986, enjoying the game and waiting for his next hole-in-one.
“Golf lets an 84-year-old man play with a 24-year-old man on the same level,” Conti said. “It’s a relaxing and very sociable game.”
Fred Conti of Windham lines up a drive, testing clubs during the Greater Portland Open kick-off in Monument Square. Conti is the official starter of the tournament, sponsored by TD Banknorth, for the 12th year in a row. Send questions/comments to the editors.
