Golfers to compete for title of 'King of the Course'

Forget about the golf tournament mentality of "playing just for fun" because tee time on Saturday will be a hardcore competition, pitting some of Western New York's largest firms against one another to see who will be crowned "King of the Course."

The first Western New York Corporate Open, the brainchild of William McGowan, an avid golfer and chief financial officer at AccuMED Technologies Inc., will be held on Monday, July 30 at the Park Club in Amherst.

It was an idea born one day while McGowan was golfing with friends and chatting about the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge run, held every spring in Buffalo.

"We were talking about the Corporate Challenge, and I thought, why not hold a golf tournament here? There is no local tournament that crowns any company as having the best golfers in Western New York," McGowan said. "Someone has got to want to win the title."

For three years, McGowan kept thinking about it but it wasn't until he learned of a new foundation that needed help raising money that McGowan got serious.

When Tom Blaszczykiewicz, chief executive officer of AccuMED, formed the Blaszczykiewicz Foundation earlier this year to raise money to bring life-saving MRI technology to Buffalo, McGowan seized on the chance to turn his dream of a corporate golf competition into reality.

And he hopes in the future this competition, which adopts the Corporate Challenge format, will take on a life of its own, just like the JP Morgan Chase run. Each year proceeds from the tournament will benefit a different charity. This year, the beneficiary will be the Blaszczykiewicz Foundation.

With more than 30 foursomes already registered to compete in the Corporate Open, McGowan is predicting a "fabulous" tournament.

Some of the corporations participating include: AccuMED Technologies, Bonadio, Citizens Bank, Dimar Manufacturing Corp., Delaware North Cos. Inc., Don Hahn Sales, E & Y Financial Forum, Graphic Controls LLC, Manning & Napier Information Services, MVP Network Consulting, Phillips Lytle LLP, The McGuire Group, UPS, Wausau Signature Agency and Whiting Door Manufacturing Corp.

Only one firm will be crowned "King of the Course."

For more information on the tournament, call William Mc- Gowan at 853-1800, ext. 131.