About 120 of the people instrumental in bringing the Live and Work in Maine Open to Falmouth Country Club over the past week enjoyed a three-course steak and lobster dinner Tuesday night at the club with an auction benefitting the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center.

“We’re excited to have this here to drive community, economic, charitable and workforce impact,” said Live and Work in Maine Executive Director Brian Corcoran. “And this is the first of five years with this tournament.”

An eclectic mix of corporate sponsors, lead volunteers and other stakeholders who gathered for the dinner were anticipating the PGA’s first foray to Maine since the New England Classic in 1993 at The Woodlands, also in Falmouth.

“We’re really excited to sponsor this event,” said Bob Montgomery, chief executive officer of Bangor Savings Bank. “To have golf back in Maine at the PGA level is amazing.”

Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin, a Bates College alum, said, “The PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour – our organizations, tournaments and players – have done more for charity and have had more impact on community than any other sport. That is our purpose and something that we’re proud of.”

Dinner attendees included Deane Beman, former commissioner of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour, which has raised $3.5 billion for charities over the past 35 years.

“It’s folks like you who volunteer and participate in sponsorship of this kind of event that make that possible,” he said.

“Yes, it’s about seeing some of the best golfers in the world in our state,” Corcoran said. “But we have a bigger, broader purpose. Yes, the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital is the beneficiary. But on the heels of that, our community and our state. We can leverage the power of the PGA Tour.”

Amy Paradysz is a freelance writer and photographer from Scarborough. She can be reached at amyparadysz@gmail.com.