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With video of the tee-off

When 12-year-old Mark Benevento Jr., of Somers Point, went to North Carolina, he hoped he would just be able to meet Tiger Woods.

Turns out he set his expectations way too low.

The seventh-grader accompanied his father, Mark Benevento, and Pat Croce, of Ocean City, owner of Greate Bay Country Club in Somers Point, to hear Woods discuss his first-ever golf course design in the United States at The Cliffs at High Carolina.

When Woods hit a couple of ceremonial tee shots on one of the course's developing holes, he crushed one and pushed two others right into the trees. Humorously exasperated, he asked anyone in the crowd to do better.

Benevento Jr. raised his hand, was handed a driver and sent one soaring 200 yards down the middle of the fairway.

"Wow!" Woods said. "Do that again. We gotta see that again. This is your clinic, ladies and gentlemen."

Benevento teed up the second ball and once again striped one down the middle.

"Well done, bud," Woods said. "Good stuff. Proud of ya."

Benevento Jr. said it was an experience he won't forget.

"It was fun to hang with Tiger," he said. "I invited him to come back to play at Greate Bay. I hope he takes me up on the offer."

Angel on their shoulders

Joe Fogelman, of Ventnor, believes in fate.

Fogelman, 80, and his wife, Jeanne, 79, went to Ocean City in July to watch the Nights in Venice boat parade, an annual routine for them. They were turned away at their usual spot, the Ocean City Yacht Club, because it was too crowded, so they kept walking to another dock.

"A young lady told us it was a private dock, but as we turned to leave, a gentleman said, 'Come and join our party.'"

As usual, the Fogelmans had a blast, but when the party was coming to a close, Jeanne was having a problem breathing, and Joe sat Jeanne in a beach chair.

"All of a sudden, a woman (Kelly Stenton, of Mount Laurel, Burlington County) just came over and asked if she was OK," Joe said. "She told us she was a nurse. As she asked this, my wife passed out. We laid her down on the dock and the nurse yelled, 'She stopped breathing,' and started CPR."

Mount Laurel's Todd Humgartner, the nurse's boyfriend and a certified emergency medical technician, ran to his car and came back with an oxygen tank and mask, gave her oxygen and waited for the ambulance. She was eventually transferred to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where she received a heart catheterization.

"If that young nurse was not there with her boyfriend, I would be a widower," Fogelman said. "We have been married 59 years, and the strange thing is that the doctor (Alan Moak) who performed the heart catheterization was the uncle of the young nurse. I call her an angel on my shoulder. I never really thought about angels before, and I'm 80, but now I believe."

Short stories

Frank Formica, of Margate, owner of Formica Bros. Bakery in Atlantic City and Egg Harbor Township, will receive The Marty Wilson Award today in honor of his contributions to the arts in Atlantic County. Formica will receive the award at the annual Harvest Brunch at Dante Hall in Atlantic City. The foundation's mission is to help children acquire knowledge, skills and understanding of the arts to reinforce life, social and job skills.

The fifth annual Movers. Shakers. Difference Makers. luncheon at The Palm Restaurant inside The Quarter at the Tropicana Casino and Resort once again sold out with more than 300 people attending. The event helped raise more than $60,000 for Gilda's Club South Jersey, which honored Palm General Manager Paul Sandler as guest of honor.

Some local car enthusiasts recently fared well at the 16th annual Boardwalk Classic Car Show in the Wildwoods. Top 40 awards were presented to Dennis Township's Edward G. Mascia (No. 8, 1937 Ford Pickup), Hammonton's Craig Sacco (No. 13, 1970 Dodge Challenger), Wildwood's Michael Vicario (No. 22, 1951 Kaiser Delex), Lacey Township's Frank Selvage (No. 25, 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Indy Pace Car), Toms River's Joseph Montalban (No. 28, 1967 Lincoln Continental), Wildwood Crest's Bruce Smith (No. 37, 1948 Lincoln Continental) and Millville's John Vila (No. 40, 1967 Chevy Camaro).

To share your story, call Scott Cronick at 609-272-7017 or e-mail him at scronick@pressofac.com.

1 comment:

• BayRat64 (56) posts 9:41 pm

  Congrats to Mark Jr. on hitting a couple of great shots under the watchful eye of Tiger Woods. It is a great memory he will cherish for the rest of his life.

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