Jimmy Dunne

Opening the Doors

Jimmy Dunne’s parents always told him, “There’s a special place in hell for somebody who sits on a fence during a crisis,” as Dunne puts it. Dunne has never sat on a fence. After September 11, a day he lost 66 fellow Sandler O’Neill employees to terrorism, he rebuilt the company and started a college scholarship fund for children of the investment firm’s deceased partners and employees. Not surprisingly, he took action during a global pandemic, too. Dunne, president of the normally media-shy Seminole Golf Club, teamed up with Arnie’s longtime pal Tim Neher to lead the club in hosting the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins event in May. The event raised $5.5 million for COVID-19 relief, $1.1 million of which came from viewer donations. “Early on, I had said on a board call that I felt we weren’t doing enough,” Dunne says. “We were doing what we could for local communities, did a lot for the [Seminole] caddies, did other things. I thought we could do more, and I wanted to do more, and the board wanted to do more. When the opportunity presented itself, Tim Neher and I took it immediately.”—Christopher Powers