Sunday, June 17, 2012

Myron Cope-Foge Fazio Memorial Classic for Autism

This past Monday I had the opportunity to photograph the Myron Cope - Foge Fazio Memorial classic for Autism at the Montour Heights Country Club. This is an annual golf outing that is a major fundraiser for the Autism Society of Pittsburgh. We had donated a gift certificate to their auction (my oldest son has autism), and they contacted me at the last minute to get candid shots of the golfers on the course and at the dinner afterwards.

It's been a lot of years since I've photographed golfers (back in high school!) so I was a little concerned about it. I used my long 80-200/2.8 zoom so I could keep my distance (and minimize any distractions I caused). Fortunately the course was quite hilly, which made it easy to get great high or low vantage points for shooting the golfers.

This year's event was hosted by WTAE's Bill Hillgrove (the Voice of the Steelers and Panthers) and legendary local weatherman Joe DiNardo. There were a lot of former Steelers and former Pitt players in attendance, including Andy Russell, Dwayne Woodruff, John Banazak, Robin Cole, Joe Walton, and Sam Clancy. Of special note was American Junior Golf Association Tim Novik (pictured above) who donates to autism for every birdie he makes in amateur competition.