To help Matt Heestand get the $5,000 hole-in-one prize he earned with an ace in the Lake Erie Golf Tour’s Tam-O-Shanter event, Northeast Ohio Golf contacted the insurance company that LEGT listed on their website as their sponsor, the National Hole-In-One Association.
Brad Henderson, the Advertising Manager for the National Hole-In-One Association, responded to NEOHgolf.com’s request for additional information about the LEGT’s unpaid prize to Heestand.
The following are portions from different emails that Henderson sent explaining the current situation:
“I talked with the owner of our company, and he looked into the claim. We have the claim and it is in the investigation process. We are awaiting paperwork attestations of various facts and statements from the involved parties that have not been provided to date. These attestations are required to present a claim to the insurer.
Since it’s an open claim and it is still “pending”, we can’t release additional information (about exactly what paperwork is missing) to anyone except to the parties involved.
We (on our side) have done all we can to process this claim and I’d hate to have our name associated with a negative when it’s not our fault.
We have paid out in excess of $50,000,000 cash and prizes since 1981. We pay hundreds of prizes every year. But we must have evidence from the parties claiming the prize for the insurers.
The National Hole-in has worked very hard on our internet rankings, image, etc. and would prefer you didn’t run this story.”
When it was suggested to Henderson that Chris Marino and the LEGT could provide full and complete details on the status of the claim to Heestand, to Northeast Ohio Golf, or to anyone else if they so choose, Henderson replied, “Absolutely.”
Unfortunately, three different emails to Marino since Friday morning asking for exactly what type of paperwork is still missing have gone unanswered thus far…
As the boys on ESPN say COM ON MAN!!!!! this is such BS pay this man……..
Here are my thoughts and I don’t hide behind screen names.
Poor guy…probably doesn’t realize he’s less likely to see payment with each passing day. And $5K isn’t spare change these days.
Figure this trend:
Pull the arm on a slot machine in Vegas and if you win, you get paid.
Buy a scratch-off lotto ticket, match prize amounts, and you get paid.
If someone breaks into your Cadillac Escalade and steals your belongings, the insurance company reimburses you for your loss (typically within a few days!)…and you guessed it –
YOU GET PAID.
Play in any of the 4-M, 2-M, 6-M, Ironman scrambles that Allen keeps us all informed about each week and win a skin, you get paid.
Play in a golf tournament in northeast Ohio, make a hole-in-one offering a $5K prize, don’t get paid.
Huh?
My suggestion for young Matt…don’t wait by your mailbox. Life is too short. Best of luck and I sincerely hope Mr. Marino does himself some justice on this story and issues the payment. He could always get reimbursed – but the longer this goes on, the more credibility he will lose…along with the LEGT. And riding in the shadows of the failed Medalist Tour doesn’t help shake any negative publicity any easier. Paperwork is no excuse by any means. So don’t use that one.
Like Ask The Slouch says in the PD – “Pay the man, Shirley.” [Marino] And $5K is hardly $1.25
As always, great site Allen. Thanks for keeping us informed on golf in NE Ohio!!
This will be my final comment on this story, Mr.Marino I publically give you credit for your tour and I do believe You were honest and ran it to the best of your abillity, For future events if a hole and one is made and a big payout is expected,Get the paperwork done and notorized and make sure all the signatures are correct and all the signatures are there delays like this run people away from Tours and not attract them to your tour. Hope this was a learning experience for you and your tour will grow from. And I am sure Heestand will recieve payment, 4 months is way to long. I have been in the Golf business for over 15 years been playing for 30 years. I came off like a real a..! But I was fired up and lost my cool by no Means did I bash your tour or called you dishonest… I do not give you a passing mark for your effords. But I do hope your tour remains sucessful and continues to grow.
And to Mr Joe public it was a paperwork issue, Matt dont have to speak out he is a soft spoken person and one of the best Amatures in this area…. He would never go there but as for me I went there I have my boys back.
I didnt hide behind no screen name I said what I wanted to say… There is a million Steves, where the last name Mr.Man-UP?
To Steve – why would Matt complain? That would not help the situation at hand. I’m sure Matt is very eager to get his prize money and he’s trying to work with all involved. To Joe Public – let’s do some simple math. If you make a $1000 every two weeks, by three months you should have $6000. It’s going on 4 months now and Matt has yet to be paid for something
that was promised in this event. What is the National Hole-In-One and Marino doing, rebuilding their war chest or making interest off Matt’s unclaimed funds? I understand paper work and these things take time, but 3 months is RIDICULOUS!!!!
I MADE A HOLE IN ONE 2 YEARS AGO FOR $5000……NO PAPERWORK WAS FORGOTTEN OR DELAYED AND IT STILL TOOK OVER 3 MONTHS TO GET THE MONEY!!! IF YOU HAVENT DONE IT……SHUT UP ….YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT!!!!!
So what is everyone going to say when Matt does get paid. It’s funny the Matt has yet to emerge and complain. He has been in contact with Chris and knows the story.
As far as the LEGT failing, it was well run this year. Obviously the hope is for more players, but Hastings is the one to blame for that. Most people wanted to see how the tour was going to be run before they jumped back into play. The players that played this year returned each week and that says alot about how things were run. Please stop hiding behind screen names and anonymously blasting people. If you have something negative to say about Chris, Al, LEGT, or anyone else for that matter, man up and use your real name.
Lol Marino probably screwed up or never bothered to even fill out the paper work. This company is so easy to work with it’s not even funny, if you look at the start of this and end it all falls on Marino. So in other words if it looks like the medalist tour smells like the medalist tour it maybe be the medalist tour. And yeah al come
On dude, we appreciate the journalism but how about doing follow up on Hastings crooked ass and put some heat on him to get the
Money he still owes out to people. Or did he just disappear of the map with it all.
I said it earlier this year that this pot game/traveling league would fail, and it did Ohio golf is not strong for a so called “tour” I just feel bad for the kid who got screwed out of the cash.
If Tiger woods hit a hole in one at Lake Erie Golf Tour’s Tam-O-Shanter Event they would have already paid him the $5,000 prize money. But since it’s Joe Blow Matt Heestand amateur golfer it’s time to make him jump through hoops and tie him up in endless paperwork hoping that he’ll go away. Golf is supposed to be a game for gentlemen. Well lightning struck in the form of a hole in one. Time to pony up the money Marino and make
good on your word. What has it been, like almost 4 months? Marino could have paid Matt and have been reimbursed by National Hole-In-One.
Something stinks.
For someone to get an ACE, I didn’t hear alot of noise. Now if I hit a shot for $5000, you can bet the house everyone in Canton would’ve heard me. Now I played in tourn. and didnt hear a thing
I am making an educated guess . Hole in one insurance is very very reputable and they pay the claims very very quickly. Paperwork involved is very limited I do know this since I have worked for this type of insurance program for several years. I would hope there was a witness on the green not witnesses in the group he was playing with to verify the hole in one. Because that is usually a requirement and the hole must be over 150 yards. Another requirement is not to exceed a total number of players to attempt a hole in one shot. If this was WAY WAY underestimated coverage could also be in jeopardy. Generally the pay out process takes 2 weeks to process and check is mailed out within 14 days or so. So someone really is hiding something for this to be dragging out for so long….
I dont hear anyone calling Marino a dishonest person, 5000 dollars is the purpose of this article. Its his duty to make sure his golfers on his tour get paid. It is not like he was running a huge tour I dont believe one of the LEGT events had 30 golfers in it this year. So he should of had the paperwork completed quicklyand accurate. There is no excuse still for the paperwork to be out of order. A hole in one is a great accomplishment. You would think the director of a Mini tour or should I say a 20 man traveling league would be able to get this right. No one called anyone dishonest. I would say it will probably be a 10 man traveling league next year…..3 months I believe is enough time to write a novel. So how much time do you think Mr.Marino should have to get paperwork correct. Do your Job as a Tour Director and PAY THE MAN. GET IT CORRECT OR GET SOMEONE TO HELP YOU. And retire as a Tour director. I GIVE HIM A F on his efford to get it right.
What is the purpose of this article….do prove that Marino does not know how to fill out paperwork? In the first article on NEO, Marino takes responsibility for the problem…it isn’t like he is pointing the figure at someone. Nothing new here other than an attempt to stick it to Marino.
If NEO wants to play Carl Monday, how about an update on Hastings and how he still owes people prize money? Marino may not be a great administrator, but he isn’t s scam artist like Hastings. First article was a week ago – give him a fair amount of time to report like he promised.
This is a crafty way to create the impression that Marino is dishonest…pretty unfair if you ask me….especially when there is no evidence to suggestion Marino is a Mike Hastings kind of guy.
Congrats Matt on a great year and great shot, I’m sure the $5,000 will come in handy. Al you’re the best for bird doggin this….Carl Monday aint got nothing on you!
Is this for real a paperwork issue is the problem…. Come on how tough can it be to do a little paperwork.. The man should of been paid already. With computers a paperwork issue should be solved in about three minutes. When is the Guy gonna get paid? Over 3 months for a paperwork Issue…….Come on what if the Money was owed to you. I wouldnt be as calm as Heestand he is a close friend and I am getting very fired up about it now…