By Stephen E. Lipken

In line with the coming U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, June 15-21, twenty-seven United States Golf Association (USGA) volunteers converged on Feeding Westchester (FW) headquarters, 600 Clearview Drive, Elmsford on Wednesday, March 4th preparing food for shipment to County soup kitchens, pantries, schools, day care centers and needy Westchester families.

Besides volunteering to ship food for community distribution, the USGA displayed their U.S. Open Trophy.

“U.S. Open travels to locations throughout the country on a yearly basis,” Jeff Altstadter, USGA Director of Open Championship Communications stated. “As a member of the community for a full year it is part of our goal to be good neighbors and friends to the community that has been so helpful to us.  This is an opportunity for the USGA to give back to the folks in the community that has been so good to us.”

“Feeding Westchester was founded in 1988, starting out in Hawthorne with a man in a van,” Judy Campisi, FW Senior Director of Development added.  “Last year we delivered over 10 million pounds of food through our network and direct distribution programs.  We used to be the Food Bank for Westchester and re-branded…to better reflect what we do.

“When we say food bank, we think of soup kitchens, food pantries, brick-and-mortar agencies.

We really are a resource for those organizations, delivering food through 300 agency partners and programs.”

According to www.golfandcourse.com, the first U.S. Open Trophy was awarded in 1895 at Newport Country Club, Rhode Island, won by Horace Rawlins from Britain; first American receiving the award was 19-year-old John McDermott in 1911.

In 1946 the original trophy was destroyed in a fire while on display at the Tam O’Shanter Country Club near Chicago. In 1986 the U.S. Open Trophy was ‘retired’ and is currently housed permanently at the USGA Museum and Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History in Far Hills, NJ.  It is brought out for promotional events and displayed at the U.S. Open.

Winners get possession of the trophy for a year.