Supporters of Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center took up their woods, irons and putters to participate in the annual Mario Lopez Golf Classic this past week.
Along with the shotgun style tournament, the all-day event included breakfast, a putting contest, barbecue lunch, cocktail reception, live and silent auctions, raffle drawings, dinner, an awards ceremony, and a performance by the preeminent yacht music band Yächtley Crëw.
Staged at Lakeside Golf Club, which is marking the passage of 100 years since golfers first took to its links, last week’s participants followed in the steps of some of the world’s most prominent luminaries who have shot par, birdies, eagles, bogeys and double bogeys on the holes of the Max Behr-designed course.
From the beginning, Lakeside’s course and clubhouse were like a second home to numerous legends of the silver screen, including W.C. Fields, Oliver Hardy and Bing Crosby.
As each year of the past century passed, hundreds, if not thousands, of notables from the world of sports, entertainment, politics, medicine and business have challenged the fairways of the 6,534-yard, par 70 course.
Perhaps, the most well-known person associated with Lakeside has been Bob Hope. Nicknamed “Rapid Robert” due to his comedic style that consisted of delivering one-liners in quick succession, Hope, who joined the club in 1937, lived on Moorpark Street in Toluca Lake, just three blocks north of Lakeside’s 11th fairway.
With Hope having shuffled off his comedic coil more than two decades ago, Lakeside is now associated with a new crop of notables including Lopez. Best-known for playing A.C. Slater on the 1980s NBC sitcom “Saved by the Bell” and for hosting the syndicated entertainment news magazine shows “Extra” and “Access Hollywood,” Lopez’s golf tournament has raised more than $7 million for the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Foundation.
Tina Johann, who serves as the foundation’s chief philanthropy officer, joined Lopez in welcoming supporters to last week’s tournament.
“Our foundation is delighted to host local community leaders and businesses at the 2024 Comcast NBCUniversal Providence Saint Joseph Foundation Mario Lopez Golf Classic for a day of golf,” said Johann. “The proceeds from this tournament will benefit the medical center’s caregivers, enhancing their ability to deliver world-class care to more patients. This support will help advance innovative medical treatments, technology, and essential services within [the medical center’s] renowned clinical institutes.”
Among the clinical institutes that will benefit from the funds raised at last week’s tournament will be the Women’s Services and Children’s Institute, the Howard and Hycy Hill Neuroscience Institute, the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Cancer Center, and the Heart and Vascular Institute.
Among the notables in attendance at last week’s tournament were Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center CEO Karl Keeler, the foundations’ board Chairman Steve Dutka and representatives of the event’s main sponsor, Comcast NBCUniversal, which has been a longstanding partner with the foundation.
Others who enjoyed the event were Lopez’s wife, Courtney Lopez, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Burbank City Manager Justin Hess, and members of the foundation’s board of directors.
The Providence Saint Joseph Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the medical center, dedicated to enhancing quality health care for Burbank residents and those from the surrounding communities it serves.
DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.
First published in the June 22 print issue of the Burbank Leader.
