Austin American Statesman
It’s New Year’s Day, a time when all of us are filled with high hopes for the coming year. Many in Austin today are hoping, and praying, for one thing—the recovery of Mike Minicucci.
Minicucci works in the real estate business as an associate with the Austin/San Antonio office of Staubach Retail, but many know him from his time as an instructor at the Academy of Golf Dynamics in Lakeway from 1999-2005 and as a three-time member of the professional team in the Hannon Cup matches. A native of Fairfax, Va., Minicucci went straight from high school to the Hooters Tour for three years before moving to Austin and joining the Academy of Golf Dynamics staff.
Today Mincucci is in a Dallas hospital after undergoing a high-risk surgery to remove a brain tumor that was discovered in early December.
To make matters worse, Minicucci, who is single, has no insurance. However, a group of Austin realtors has organized a campaign to raise money to help cover what will be extremely high medical expenses. Donations can be made payable to River in the Hills Church, with the notation “For Mike Minicucci” on the memo line. Send them to River in the Hills Church, 1310 RR 620, Suite C-190, Lakeway, TX, 78734.
Other fund-raising activities are planned, including a Jan. 27 benefit at the Texas Disposal Systems facility on FM 1327. For information about how to help Minicucci, contact Todd Wallace at 236-4646 or Shannon Taylor at 236-4665.
“This is obviously an incredibly rough ordeal, and to happen to such a great guy, a young guy (27), is hard to imagine,” said Wallace, Minicucci’s supervisor at Staubach Retail. “I met Mike when I was attending the Academy, and he showed a lot of interest in getting into the real estate business.
“We usually don’t hire anybody without a college degree,” Wallace said, “but Mike seemed so eager that he came on as an $8 an hour intern. Once he got here I had never seen anybody work so hard and show so much interest in learning the business. We finally hired him outright, and it was a good decision.
“Mike is an incredible athlete,” Wallace added. “He didn’t start playing golf until his sophomore year in high school. He was also an outstanding high school basketball player, and a few years ago he won a national three-point shooting contest that included a bunch of guys from the NBA.”