Paying it forward for Jeff
Courtesy photo Jeff Marfice is seen here with his daughter, Bailey, prior to his unexpected and tragic death last June. Marfice’s friends and loved ones are hosting the first Marfice Masters on July 7 at the Coeur d’Alene Public Golf Course to celebrate Marfice’s love of golf and giving.
Courtesy photo Jeff Marfice, leaning on his clubs second from left, will be remembered during the first Marfice Masters golf tournament July 7 at the Coeur d’Alene Public Golf Course. Marfice was just 29 when he died last summer after being punched and hitting his head during a confrontation downtown Coeur d’Alene. His friends and loved ones have coordinated the tournament to celebrate his memory as well as his love of golf and giving back to his community.
By DEVIN WEEKS
Staff Writer
COEUR d’ALENE — Just more than a year after his unexpected and tragic death, Jeff Marfice's friends and loved ones will be swinging golf clubs in his honor.
And just as Marfice would have liked it, they'll be doing it for a good cause.
"Jeff was a person who was a giver," said Katy Battista, who knew Marfice for about eight years and worked with him at The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course. "He was always helping his friends out. He was the pay-it-forward kind of guy. We thought paying it forward in Jeff's memory was the best way to honor him."
The debut Marfice Masters golf tournament, in four-person scramble format, will be held at 1 p.m. July 7 at the Coeur d'Alene Public Golf Course to celebrate Marfice and his love of golf and giving.
The day will include food, drinks, prizes, giveaways, raffles, hole-in-one prizes and winning team prizes.
All proceeds will go to support Camp Journey, a summer camp for children and their families touched by cancer.
"He really supported Camp Journey and what they're doing out there," said Dustin Gannon, who is co-organizing the tournament with Battista. "He would donate several thousands of dollars every year. He really liked what they were doing."
Marfice died June 19, 2017 — Father's Day and his daughter's birthday — after being punched, falling and striking his head while defending his fiancée and other ladies being harassed by a group of young men in downtown Coeur d'Alene. He was 29.
Battista said the tournament "is not meant to be a sad day."
"It's purely meant to be fun," she said. "Good times, good memories and for some people, making some new friends."
Gannon met Marfice in 2007 when they worked as caddies. He said their crew was as close as family and they did everything together: "He had this network of people he knew, but he was able to make everyone feel like they were one of his only friends.
"He was the type of person who would give everything to everybody. He was the only 26-year-old person I knew who would buy bikes at Walmart and give them to kids in the community at Christmastime," Gannon said. "He had this mindset that the more he invested in our community, the better it would be."
Marfice's friends also hope to install junior tee boxes in his name at the Coeur d'Alene Public Golf Course, located at 2321 Fairway Drive, so younger golfers can get in on the fun.
Marfice Masters tickets are $100 per person and can be purchased at www.thesweetheartsball.schoolauction.net/marficemasters.