11th Annual Tournament
“The Keith” Caddie Tournament Celebrates Its 11th Year
The Eleventh Annual Keith R. Cerrato Golf Tournament (“The Keith”) will be held on Monday, August 12, 2019 at the Cherry Valley Club in Garden City, New York.
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The tournament, which was established to honor Keith Cerrato who was tragically killed thirteen years ago, has become a tradition at Cherry Valley where he was a caddie for many years.  According to the tournament director, Bill Goldschein, “To honor Keith’s memory and his tireless work ethic, the tournament is only open to caddies.  It’s hard to believe that this will be our eleventh year and over 1000 caddie rounds will have been played in this event.”

The reason “The Keith” is such a unique tournament is because the golfers are the caddies.  They do not pay a penny to participate in a day that includes practice range, lunch and dinner, a round of golf, golf cart, golfer’s gift and awards.  It is a day they have a chance to have the pro, members and staff wait on them.  In the past few years, Cherry Valley members sign up to caddie for the caddies!

To show an appreciation to all hard working caddies, the participants in “The Keith” can be sponsored by their club’s and/or members for $150 per golfer.  If you are not affiliated with a club and wish to contribute you can forward a check to Ed Kelly, Cherry Valley Club, 23 Rockaway Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530.  The committee will assign a caddie for you so that they can enjoy this special day.

“Our family is so grateful to Ed Kelly, CVC Golf Pro, for creating this tournament in Keith’s honor.  CVC has supported our cause for 11 years because Keith was one of theirs!  He loved this club and they have returned their love to him every year with this special day.  We cannot help our son anymore but we can help other sons and daughters”, said John Cerrato, Keith’s dad.

All net proceeds go to two scholarship funds for students in need at Hofstra University and Chaminade High School (Keith’s alma maters).  Over the past 11 years, 50 scholarships have been awarded.  Please make all checks payable to the Keith Cerrato Charitable Fund Inc.  For more information contact Ed Kelly, Cherry Valley Club at 516-746-4420, ekelly@cherryvalleyclub.com or Mary Lou Cerrato, 516-456-3384, mloucer@aol.com
10th Annual Tournament
Monday, August 13, 2018
The 10th Annual Keith R. Cerrato Caddie Tournament (“The Keith”) was held on Monday, August 20, 2018 at the Cherry Valley Club after being cancelled on Monday, August 13 due to torrential rain. 100 caddies signed up from 17 clubs including Winged Foot Golf Club and Westchester Country Club.

“The Keith” is such a unique tournament because the golfers are the caddies. This year CVC members Gil Puentes, James Mastaglio, Greg Blair and Bill Horstmann caddied for the caddies and enjoyed being on the course looking for the balls and reading the greens. The tournament was established to honor Keith Cerrato who was tragically killed eleven years ago. He was a caddie at Cherry Valley for many years and also worked in the bag room and on the range. To honor Keith’s memory Ed Kelly, CVC Golf Pro, created the tournament. Even though the greens were soft from all the rain, the scores were very low. Kyle Ritchie, Garden City Country Club, shot 64 and repeated as champion, Tristan Burr from Cold Spring Country Club shot 66 and came in second, while Greg Tricario from Winged Foot Golf Club shot a 69 and finished in third place. The “Richie Mason Award” which is in remembrance of long time CVC caddie Richie Mason, was awarded to Danny “Noonan” Mitchell as the low CVC caddie.

“The Cerrato Family is very grateful to Cherry Valley Club, Ed Kelly, Golf Pro, Bill Goldschein, Tournament Director and Gary Fochesto, Master of Ceremonies for their continued support”, said John Cerrato, Keith’s Dad. The tournament would also like to thank CVC members Patti Horstmann and Mary Ellen Carney for their tireless work during the day as well and especially to all our sponsors. A particular thank you to the following event sponsors for their special generosity: Titleist Golf, Thomas and Barbara Sullivan Foundation, Doscas Family Foundation, Charlie and Denise Strain, Brian and Linda Gold, The Groarke & Burns Family, Ellen and Charlie Manning, Rose and John Dionisio, The Hoops Family and to all who sponsored caddies.

Mary Lou Cerrato, Keith’s Mom said: “We are very happy that Cherry Valley continually receives positive exposure for this special day.” Mark Herrmann, Newsday columnist, covers the tournament every year. This year Mark wrote: “The pro and members at Cherry Valley Club in Garden City tend to the caddies’ every need, instead of vice versa. In a few cases the members even carry the caddies clubs.” He continued: “It is The Keith, the annual caddies tournament and one of Long Island’s noblest golf traditions.” She also added: “If it wasn’t for the generosity of CVC this event would not be able to exist.” Ed Kelly, Bill Goldschein, John and Mary Lou Cerrato, were also interviewed on Sirius XM Golf station where they talked about the tournament and the support CVC has given this event.

The money raised has supported at least 50 scholarships at both Chaminade High School and Hofstra University (Keith’s alma maters) for students in need. Since the Cerrato Family can no longer help their son Keith, they have decided to help others less fortunate. Please visit our website www.keithcaddietournament.com to view pictures from the tournament.

9th Annual Tournament
Monday, August 21, 2017

The 9th Annual Keith R. Cerrato Golf Tournament (“The Keith”) was held on Monday, August 21, 2017 at the Cherry Valley Club with 107 caddies from 15 clubs from Long Island, Westchester and Ireland participating.
 
 “The Keith” is such a unique tournament because the golfers are the caddies.  This year CVC members caddied for the caddies and enjoyed being on the course looking for the balls and reading the greens.  In addition to being unique the tournament was held on the day of the Solar Eclipse.  All the caddies were given special glasses and were able to experience this extraordinary event.
 
The tournament was established to honor Keith Cerrato who was tragically killed ten years ago.  He was a caddie at Cherry Valley
for many years and also worked in the bag room and on the range.  To honor Keith’s memory Ed Kelly, CVC Golf Pro, created the tournament.
 
This was the first year that long time CVC caddie and afternoon starter Richie Mason was not participating in the tournament due to his unfortunate passing last year.  His smile, warmth and “can do” attitude made him a special person.  He was always available to the members and his friends and he is sorely missed.  In remembrance of Richie the tournament has created the “Richie Mason Award” which will be awarded every year to the low score from a CVC caddie and their name will be placed on a plaque along side our son’s name and Richie’s name, according to Keith’s mom, Mary Lou Cerrato.
 
Sean Mason, Richie’s son, also a caddie at CVC, hit the honorary first shot and played along side his fellow caddies.  Richie’s wife, Janet Mason, and Sean then presented the aforementioned award to John “Spider” Torlone as the low CVC caddie.
 
The caddies’ ages varied from as young as 14 to as old as 73.  Some were high school kids and some were in college.  Some were caddying as a part time job and some were full time “loopers” whose main source of income is the money they make when they get out for a loop.  You did not have to be a great golfer to participate as the scores varied by a range as large as the difference in the ages of the participants.
 
This year’s winners were Kyle Ritchie from Garden City Country Club with a 69, Dan Gehrig, second place, from Garden City Golf Club with a 72 score and third place winner, Kevin Steakin from Deepdale Golf Club with a 73. 
 
“The Cerrato Family is very grateful to Cherry Valley Club, Ed Kelly, Bill Goldschein, Tournament Director and Gary Fochesto, Master of Ceremonies for their continued support”, said John Cerrato, Keith’s Dad.  The Cerrato Family would also like to thank CVC members Patti Horstman and Mary Ellen Carney for their tireless work during the day as well and especially to all of our sponsors.  A particular thank you to the following event sponsors for their special generosity: Core Water, Titleist Golf, Thomas and Barbara Sullivan Foundation, Doscas Family Foundation, Charlie and Denise Strain, Brian and Linda Gold, Ed and Pat Groarke, Jason and Gillian Burns, Ellen and Charlie Manning, Rose and John Dionisio, The Hoops Family and to all who sponsored caddies.
 
All net proceeds are donated to two scholarship funds for students in need at Hofstra University and Chaminade High School (Keith’s alma maters).

8th Annual Tournament
Monday, August 22, 2016

The 8th Annual Keith R. Cerrato Golf Tournament (“The Keith”) was held on Monday, August 22, 2016 at the Cherry Valley Club with 106 caddies from 16 clubs from Long Island, Westchester and Ireland participating. 

The tournament was established to honor Keith Cerrato who
was tragically killed ten years ago.  He was a caddie at Cherry Valley for many years and also worked in the bag room and on the range.  To honor Keith’s memory Ed Kelly, CVC Golf Pro, created the tournament.
 
 “The Keith” is such a unique tournament because the golfers
are the caddies.  This year CVC members caddied for the caddies and enjoyed being on the course looking for the balls and reading the greens.
 
This year’s winner was Danny Gehrig from Garden City Golf Club with a 73 and a second place tie of 74 for Roger Fonest, Garden City Golf Club and Kyle Richie, Garden City Country Club.  This is the first year that all winners were from our Garden City Clubs.
 
“The Cerrato Family is very grateful to Cherry Valley Club, Ed Kelly and Bill Goldshein, Tournament Director, for their continued support”, said John Cerrato, Keith’s Dad.  The Cerrato Family would also like to thank all of our sponsors.  A particular thank you to the following event sponsors for their special generosity:
Honest Tea, Titleist, Thomas and Barbara Sullivan Foundation, Doscas Family Foundation, Charlie and Denise Strain, Brian
​and Linda Gold, Ed and Pat Groarke, Jason and Gillian Burns and Mary Finneran. 
 
All net proceeds are donated to two scholarship funds for students in need at Hofstra University and Chaminade High School (Keith’s alma maters).
 
Please visit our gallery to view pictures from the tournament.

The 8th Annual Keith R. Cerrato Golf Tournament (“The Keith”) was held on Monday, August 22, 2016 at the Cherry Valley Club with 106 caddies from 16 clubs from Long Island, Westchester and Ireland participating. 

The tournament was established to honor Keith Cerrato who
was tragically killed ten years ago.  He was a caddie at Cherry Valley for many years and also worked in the bag room and on the range.  To honor Keith’s memory Ed Kelly, CVC Golf Pro, created the tournament.
 
 “The Keith” is such a unique tournament because the golfers
are the caddies.  This year CVC members caddied for the caddies and enjoyed being on the course looking for the balls and reading the greens.
 
This year’s winner was Danny Gehrig from Garden City Golf Club with a 73 and a second place tie of 74 for Roger Fonest, Garden City Golf Club and Kyle Richie, Garden City Country Club.  This is the first year that all winners were from our Garden City Clubs.
 
“The Cerrato Family is very grateful to Cherry Valley Club, Ed Kelly and Bill Goldshein, Tournament Director, for their continued support”, said John Cerrato, Keith’s Dad.  The Cerrato Family would also like to thank all of our sponsors.  A particular thank you to the following event sponsors for their special generosity:
Honest Tea, Titleist, Thomas and Barbara Sullivan Foundation, Doscas Family Foundation, Charlie and Denise Strain, Brian
​and Linda Gold, Ed and Pat Groarke, Jason and Gillian Burns and Mary Finneran. 
 
All net proceeds are donated to two scholarship funds for students in need at Hofstra University and Chaminade High School (Keith’s alma maters).
 
Please visit our gallery to view pictures from the tournament.

7th Annual Tournament
Monday, August 3rd, 2015

Over 100 caddies from 18 clubs from Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and even Ireland

Age ranged from 17 to 73.

Some were High School students who work their summers and weekends, College Students who work their summers for extra spending money, full timers who work the entire year getting as many loops as they can 7 days per week. We had a Special Forces Vet who just go back from Afghanistan and is planning on becoming a cop.  We had another young man who has been working for 4 years as a caddie and now has enough money to go to dental school ( he is starting in September) and a caddie who played the mini tours in Florida for a few years.

First Place was a tie between Livingston Williams from Garden City Golf Club and Chris Sullivan from Deepdale Golf Club both shooting a 73. Third place went to Mike Read from Cherry Valley Club who shot a 74. However, everyone was not a good golfer as the scores went up to 120 or so. Most important they were caddies and were treated to a day as members by the PGA pros headed by Ed Kelly, the staff and members of Cherry Valley. They got to the tournament because they were sponsored by either their local pro, their respective club or individual members from their clubs who wanted them to have a great day. Lunch, Golf, Carts, Dinner and a Gift. We even had a couple of members caddying for their caddies.

The proceeds go to two scholarships for less privileged students in Keith's memory and they have already produced graduates from  both  Chaminade and  Hofstra which were his almamaters.

Location

Cherry Valley Club
28 Rockaway Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530
Phone:  516-746-4420

For additional directions, please click here.

Contact Us

For more information regarding sponsoring a Caddie
or donations, contact:
  • Ed Kelly, Cherry Valley Club
    ekelly@cherryvalleyclub.com
    516-746-4420
  • Bill Goldschein
    bgoldschein@wmgadvisorsllc.com
    516-316-7861
  • Mary Lou Cerrato
    mloucer@aol.com
    516-456-3384

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