Yesterday may not have been the best day for golf, but the rain that fell for a good part of… Yesterday may not have been the best day for golf, but the rain that fell for a good part of the morning and again in the evening did not dampen anyone’s spirits at the sixth annual Kevin Cecil Golf Outing.

The event, held this year at Southpointe Country Club in Washington County, benefits former Pitt engineering student Kevin Cecil, who was the victim of a drive-by shooting seven years ago. The shooting left Cecil, a first-year engineering student at the time, permanently paralyzed from the neck down.

The outing was organized and sponsored by Chris Monti, owner of the Touch of Gold Jewelry Store in Oakland and friend of the Cecil family, the Oakland Rotary and other Oakland merchants. According to Monti, the event has raised more than $100,000 over the last five years and is expected to surpass the $120,000 mark after this year.

“The first year we had about 100 people take part and it has been a snowball effect every year since,” Monti said before the noon tee off.

According to Monti, about 140 people registered to take part in this year’s event.

In the past, the money raised from the outing was used to help pay for the costs of Cecil’s medical bills. Beginning last year, however, the Cecil family decided to give 25 percent of the proceeds to a scholarship fund for Pitt engineering students.

According to Monti, last year the fund awarded five $1,000 scholarships.

As the noon tee time arrived and the rain slowed to an occasional drop, Dennis McMannus, director of the Institute of Politics at Pitt, and a participant in the event since its inception, wiped the Plexiglass windshield of his golf cart and prepared his gear for a day on the course.

“I got involved for two reasons,” McMannus said. “First, because of a strong suggestion by Chris [Monti] and second, after meeting Kevin and his family.”

Kevin’s father, Carl Cecil, a tall man with a sense of humor to match, slowed his golf cart to a stop at the 10th tee to allow the group to follow him to tee off.

“We started the scholarship last year because of the way Pitt has been with the accident,” he said as he puffed on his cigar and moved toward his 11th-tee starting point.

Carl Cecil was grouped with Mike Takos, owner of Kinko’s on Forbes Avenue, Andy Hardie, part owner of Dave and Andy’s on Atwood Street, John Tamiggi, a friend of Monti, and Joe Risacher a Pitt alumni who now works as a head hunter and lives in the North Hills. The group’s attitude toward each summed up the attitude of all of the golfers for the day.

When asked who was going to win the long drive contest, Carl Cecil responded with, “Mike’s pretty good when he’s loose,” as Risacher let out an “ouch” during a practice swing.

“There’s his ouch for the day,” Carl Cecil quickly responded.

As the first hour of the outing came and went, the club house, much like the rain clouds, slowly cleared out so many of the business owners and friends of the Cecil family took time out of their schedules to enjoy a day of golf for a good cause.