Sep 30, 2014 2 min read

The Sgt. Doug Vitale Golf Invitational will be held Oct. 13 at Rolling Hills Country Club.

Registration begins at 10 a.m., followed by a shotgun start at 11. There also will be a silent auction, 50/50 raffle and a Skins Game. Dinner will be held afterward.

Entry fee is $500 per foursome and includes golf, prizes and dinner. Tee sponsorships are available for $100, as well as other sponsorship opportunities.

All proceeds will benefit Vitale, who was on patrol in Afghanistan on Sept. 25, 2011, when he stepped on a land mine. The explosion cost him both legs and caused severe bleeding that damaged his brain. He suffered strokes on both sides of his brain. When he awoke days later at Walter Reed National Military Center, he had lost his speech, was paralyzed on his right side and had coordination problems on the left side of his body.

For months, he, his wife and parents were living in a rented home in Tampa, Fla., while Doug underwent rehabilitation at the Department of Veterans Affairs Polytrama Rehabilitation Center. They have recently moved back to Western Pennsylvania and live in a “smart house” in Peters Township. The house features electronic control systems that Vitale can activate with a touch pad as well as a sling attached to the ceiling of his bedroom that will lift him in and out of bed and transport him to a wheelchair-adapted bathroom.

Last year’s golf outing raised $25,000, which was used to help construct the smart house.

For more information, contact Chris Monti at 724-941-0041 or montijewelers@verizon.net, or Greg Batko at 724-941-4710 or batko@fnb-corp.com.