From: Bruce Pietrangelo
I met Cliff for the first time as a coach for the First Tee. He had a quiet passion for the game and was a shining example of the 9 core values he tried to instill in the kids he met who came through the program.
As I grew to know him better I Iearned that he loved his Michigan State Spartans and was one of their most loyal fans. His Michigan State Driver was his best club in his bag and he always hit it long and straight down the middle of the fairway.
Cliff always enjoyed sharing a brew and fellowship after a round and loved to compete with a friendly wager or two.
He never lost the desire to improve and was always tinkering with something new in that regards...especially his thorn in his side short game...⛳
One last thing on a personal note on a story of Cliff I wanted to share:
Jim Skibbins and I got a chance to play golf with Cliff last month when he drove all day in the pouring rain to Calabash NC when it looked like there was no way it was going to happen due to the weather forecast. Unbeknownst to us he brought with him a trophy from his stash that was for the winner of our 3 day event and called it "The Calabash Open". The next day our round at Rivers Edge got rained out but we did manage 4 hours of practice at Top Golf thanks to Cliff and his VIP membership. Because of all the practice we were all primed and ready to go the second day at Shaftsbury Glen but unfortunately we got rained out again that morning. So it was back to Top Golf again for more practice. By that time it was looking like The Calabash Open was going to get rained out. By noon the sun finally came out and we were finally able to get in our first 9 holes that afternoon back at Shaftsbury Glen and the match was on. After 9 holes it was a pretty even match with our handicaps. After watching a Panthers win on Thursday night football and a good dinner it was on to our final day of golf. We started the day with 18 holes at Myrtle Beach National and after 18 holes I had a slight lead over Jim with Cliff finishing in 3rd. We all agreed that we needed to go back to Shaftsbury Glen for a final 9 to finish the tournament. So off we went for one last chance for one of us to capture the Cliff's "Calabash Open Trophy". As it turned out Jim wasn't having a good day, Cliff's short game took the day off and I was able to hang on for the Trophy. I have it sitting in my golf room for now but it was meant to be played for again similar to the British Open or Ryder Cup. Maybe we can play for it again some day in Cliff's memory. That would be nice.
