Scholarship, memorial tournament established in honor of Dover-Sherborn golfer Owen Bingham

WAYLAND — Standing on the 13th tee box at Sandy Burr Country Club, Jen Bingham kept repeating herself.

Posing for a picture with eight of her oldest son’s closest friends, Bingham said the same four words over and over again: “Owen would love this.”

Her son, Owen Bingham, died in a car accident on Feb. 12. He was 18. Owen, an avid golfer who was considered the unofficial mayor of Dover-Sherborn, would’ve graduated from high school this spring.

On June 22, Jen Bingham and friends hosted the inaugural Owen Bingham Memorial Golf Tournament in his honor.

“Owen, I think, would’ve loved that it allowed everyone in his life and community and his friends and family to connect,” she said. “He really was the great connector of people, and golf really allowed him to do it.”

A non-profit organization called the Team Owen Fund was recently established to inspire youth to give back to their communities. Efforts will aid youth-led charities, educational scholarships and local initiatives benefiting students who exemplify Owen’s leadership and dedication to service, according to its website.

More:Check out the Team Owen Fund website

Owen’s classmate, Kelsey Chiu, was the first recipient of the Team Owen Fund scholarship.

“What made Owen special was not what he did,” Chiu said, “but how he did it.”

'Business is boomin'

Last November, the Dover-Sherborn golf team won a Division 3 state championship.

The victory came with a roller-coaster of emotions, however.

Originally, the six Raider golfers and coach Jon Kirby thought they had lost the state title by one stroke. Yet a correction to D-S junior Ben Schroeder’s scorecard put the Raiders in a tie with Weston High. Following a tiebreaker that went to the fifth-best score, D-S walked away with its first-ever state championship.

“That switch of emotions was probably one of the greatest experiences that I’ve ever had,” Owen said at the time.

Even with Owen’s score not counting that day (top-four scores counted plus the tie-breaking fifth); the senior captain was grinning from ear to ear.

“Business is boomin’,” said Owen as the team celebrated with the trophy on the first tee box at Shining Rock Golf Club in Northbridge.

Business is Boomin':Dover-Sherborn wins tiebreaker with Weston to claim first ever Div. 3 state championship

“There wasn’t one person happier than him when we won it. He was on cloud nine and there wasn’t an ounce of disappointment in him,” Kirby said. “He was high-fiving everybody. He was the happiest guy there – but that was Owen. He was a special guy.”  

A day after Owen’s funeral in February, Kirby, Schroeder and Curtis Bowman, who also captained the D-S golf team last fall, all accomplished golf milestones at three different courses.

Bowman and Schroeder both collected their first ever hole-in-ones while Kirby sunk a 170-yard shot for eagle.

“I’m not trying to say anything, I’m just trying to tell you that that’s a fact that all those three things happened on the very same day, the day after Owen was buried,” Kirby said. “Pretty powerful. Just amazing.”

Four months later, people showed up in droves to play golf in Owen’s memory. And his aforementioned quote reverberated around the fairways of Sandy Burr.

“Business is boomin’,” recent D-S grad Luke Loeffler said.

“Business is boomin’,” Jen said.

More than 140 people played golf while about 100 people showed up for lunch after the tourney. The event raised more than $55,000.

“A golf event was the perfect way to honor Owen,” recent D-S grad Ethan Lynch said.

“I really felt like the spirit of Owen was carried through the whole day,” Jen said.

'A really, really special boy'

When Owen applied to be on the leadership counsel in high school in ninth grade, he was required to complete an application. Part of the process included writing an essay.

“I believe that my success in life will ultimately be measured by the positive impact that I have on other people’s lives,” Owen wrote.  

Over the last four months, that impact has been on full display.

“He was very selfless and genuine in everything that he did,” D-S athletic director Emily Sullivan said. “His legacy will most definitely live on if we all live our lives a little bit more like Owen Bingham.”

D-S biology teacher Anita Lotti agreed.

“What Owen leaves us is how he made us feel,” she said.

On Jan. 2, 2020, following an indoor track and field practice, members of the boys and girls track teams hung out in the cafeteria. In the café was a piano. So Owen went up, sat down and started playing “Piano Man” by Billy Joel.

The chorus goes like this:  

“Sing us a song, you’re the piano man

Sing us a song tonight

Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody

And you’ve got us feelin’ alright.”

D-S indoor track and field coach Maura Bennett captured the moment with a 30-second video that she posted on Twitter with the caption “Owen the renaissance man with an impromptu performance at the end of practice today.”

Bennett didn’t know Owen played the piano. She thought it was a really cool moment.

“Everyone just kind of stopped and turned and listened,” said Bennett, whose youngest son, Johnny, was friends with Owen. “He’s just a really, really special boy.”  

Sentiments shared by all those that knew Owen Bingham. He was a hard person not to like.

“He just really was one of those rare folks, kids, that impacted a lot of people,” Jen Bingham said.

Bowman said: “He was a unique kid, a truly special kid and not just because (his) mom says so. He carried a positivity with him that spread wherever he went, and he is, and will remain sorely missed.”

“He was just so darn full of life,” Kirby added. “To keep Owen’s name alive and on everyone’s lips and telling Owen’s stories. That’s the most important thing about this.”

Tommy Cassell is a senior multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tcassell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44.