Golfing with Friends, the Best Way to Help and Celebrate

These past few years have reminded us of the value of meeting up with our loved ones. At FIDEC, this is how we chose to celebrate our 20th anniversary and 20th open golf, with the friends who always join us and support us in these already traditional charity tournaments. The competition took place on October 11, 2021 at Trump National Doral.

Once again, we modified the game format to encourage and challenge our players. The tournament was held in the Individual Net Stableford Format mode and, as it coincided with Columbus Day, the shotgun was at nine in the morning. Towards midday, the rain prevented some golfers from finishing the last hole, but none of them lost their festive mood and gathered to enjoy lunch, sponsored by Kaluz.

As in previous years, the former Argentine tennis player Juan “Pico” Monaco, also sponsored by Kaluz, joined our tournament, as well as his compatriot and former golfer Fabián Gómez. In addition, we welcomed the Puerto Rican artist Chayanne for the second time. About eighty players participated along with them. While most were from Miami, a few managed to travel from Argentina despite the pandemic.

They all went out on the golf course wearing Helmet One hats and took a break from the game to appreciate the car and the two motorcycles exhibited by that brand, invited by Elipgo, main sponsor of FIDEC’s charity tournaments. There was much anticipation to find out who would win the hole in one and take home the 15,000-dollar prize, sponsored by Fortune International, but there was no winner this time, unlike the previous open golf. Therefore, the collective motivation grew to try again in 2022.

While waiting their turn to try their luck, golfers enjoyed ice creams courtesy of Freddo. After the tournament, each player received a bottle of wine donated by Graziano's, for them to uncork at home with their family or while watching the award ceremony on the Zoom platform, since not everyone could stay to enjoy it in person. Thus, even with certain restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDEC celebrated their 20 years with a simple but very warm event.

Before the award ceremony, Dr. Daniel Stamboulian reflected on the second year of the pandemic and summarized the achievements of FIDEC and FUNCEI between 2020 and 2021. Norberto Spangaro, early collaborator of the golf tournaments, was in charge of the auction, the raffles, and the announcement of the winners. We feel honored and grateful for the participation of Oscar Korovaichuk from Argentina, where he collaborates with the campaign entitled First 1,000 Days of Nutrition for a Healthy Life that FIDEC and FUNCEI carry out in the community of El Sauzalito, in the province of Chaco. As in 2020, the funds raised in the open golf were allocated to those activities. 

Last but not least, we also want to acknowledge the work of FIDEC’s volunteers: Sossie Stamboulian, Gustavo Kardjian, Valeria Rotholc, Luján Soler, Laura Regalini, Macarena Guiñazú, Vanesa Carusso, María Paz Victoria, Elisa Junghahn, Mariana Fischer, Marcela Cura, Mónica and Martin Paravicci, and Caroline Schmidt. Along with them, high school students also collaborated. Their time and effort made the organization of this tournament possible.