PORTSMOUTH — It started out as a small, intimate golf fund-raiser with 32 players at a now-defunct nine-hole course to help a recent widow with three school-aged children navigate devastating personal and financial hardships.
Now, 14 years later, that fund-raiser, which began at Bramber Valley Golf Course in Greenland, has grown, in collaboration with Portsmouth Football, to a one-day, two-tournament, which will feature more than 350 players on Friday, May 16 at Pease Golf Course, a 27-hole course in Portsmouth.
Mark Beaulier, a 1985 graduate of Portsmouth High School, succumbed to cancer in 2011 at the age of 43. Jeff Goss, and other high school friends of Beaulier, started a golf tournament that year to help Mark’s widow, Amy, and her three children, Seth, Abbigale and Ethan.
The tournament grew each year, and it eventually teamed up with Portsmouth Football. Proceeds from the tournament raise money not only for college scholarships in Beaulier’s name, but also for the youth and football programs in Portsmouth, where Mark once played and later coached.
“This (tournament) has been wonderful over the years,” said Amy Beaulier, the daughter of former Portsmouth High School head football coach Tom Daubney, who coached Mark. “A gentleman once told me, ‘We die twice in this lifetime; the first time when you leave this Earth; and the second time when people stop talking about you.’ I didn’t want that to happen with Mark. We talk about him all the time; you want to remember people, and this has been a blessing.”
Six scholarships were given to Portsmouth High School football players from last year's tournament. Portsmouth High School head football coach Brian Pafford said more than $40,000 in college scholarships have been awarded in Beaulier's name over the years, with additional funds going to Portsmouth football programs.
“That's amazing,” Amy said. “I think it’s wonderful. Our family looks forward to this tournament every year. It’s an amazing day.”
Who was Portsmouth football standout Mark Beaulier?
Pafford, also a member of Portsmouth's Class of 1985, was a football teammate of Beaulier's, and a lifelong friend.
"He was just a positive guy in all aspects of life, whether it be on the football field or as a friend," Pafford said. "He was just a good all-around person. He exemplified what (Coach Daubney) tried to ...
