[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14605]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   TRIBUTE TO WAYNE DeFRANCESCO, 2001 PGA CLUB PROFESSIONAL CHAMPION

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                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 25, 2001

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Wayne DeFrancesco, 
an assistant professional at the Woodholme Country Club in Baltimore, 
Maryland. Mr. DeFrancesco has just won the 34th annual PGA Club 
Professional Championship and has done so in dramatic style.
  He won the Club Professional Championship with an amazing three 
stroke victory, overcoming a double bogey on the fourth and a bogey on 
the fifth hole. He solidified his win with a 17 foot, par-saving putt 
on the twelfth hole and a 15 foot uphill birdie on the sixteenth hole. 
Mr. DeFrancesco became just the third person ever to win this 
championship wire-to-wire, but the first in tournament history to have 
sole possession of first place in all four rounds.
  This great victory is of little surprise considering that Mr. 
DeFrancesco has devoted a lifetime to the sport. He started his career 
as a Washington D.C. area high school champion and as letterman for 
Wake Forest University. Over the last twenty five years, Mr. 
DeFrancesco has won countless numbers of regional tournaments while at 
the same time working as an instructor in clubs along the East Coast. 
He has served as an editor to the Washington Golf Monthly Magazine and 
as a guest instructor on the Golf Channel. In 2000, he was recognized 
for his expert instruction as #42 among golf's greatest teachers, by 
Golf Digest.
  We are living in a time when golf has a renewed excitement. Tiger 
Woods and Annika Sorenstam have captured the imaginations of people 
from all across the country. They have done so with skill, 
perseverance, and a strong work ethic that have brought this great game 
to new heights of popularity. In that same spirit Wayne DeFrancesco has 
mastered his craft.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate this fine athlete on a terrific 
accomplishment and I wish him the best of luck when he competes for the 
PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club in August.

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