No stopping Florida golf tourney
The 9th Annual USMCCCA Foundation (Florida Chapter) Golf Tournament Friday, June 7.
Tropical Storm Andrea tried its best but failed to stop play in the 9th Annual USMCCCA Foundation (Florida Chapter) Golf Tournament Friday, June 7.
The wide-ranging storm dropped between two and four inches of rain on the Ridgewood Lakes Golf Club on Thursday filling sand bunkers and prohibiting golf carts from anywhere but cart paths on the Central Florida gem.
Tournament Chair “Red” Carpenter gave high praise to the Ridgewood staff for getting the course into playable condition. “We only were delayed an hour before play began, thanks to the efforts of the workers. Sand bunkers were filled with water and workers were raking even as we played. They did a great job!”
Carpenter thanked all players for putting up with the very wet conditions that, on some courses, would have meant cancellation of the tournament. “The losers would have been the Marines and families served by the Injured Marines Semper Fi organization of Oceanside, CA. As it is, we still netted $7,000 and will be able to make a substantial contribution again this year.
The rain did diminish the playing field and, with the cart path-only rule, golfers hitting errant shots did quite a bit of walking. In all, 70 players participated in the scramble format.
The Marine Corps Color Guard from Orlando’s 4th Motor Transport Bn., were featured during the pre-golf ceremonies, presenting the Colors for the playing of the National Anthem and the Marines Hymn. Their participation did not end there as they also participated in the tournament, winning first place honors. The team was comprised of Gregg Smith, Michael Brandt and Robert Smith.
Winning second place were Joel Carter, Dave Jacques and Michele Vinieratos. In the over 60 Division, Jim Paxton, Bobby Jones, Dusty Rhodes and Dave Blanchard, all from The Groves community, took home trophies. This was the second win for a Paxton team in this tournament.
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From Red Carpenter: As you can imagine we had a reduced field due to the threatening skies and potential rain but we played and everything worked out. We raised a little over $7000.00 thanks to the very generous donations of friends, members and committee. Kevin Doll did a great job of running things at the tournament, as did Gregg Gagliardi who handled the auction. Jack Paxton, with his contacts at Heineken, provided the beer and Jack’s wife Pat and Ann Carpenter provided much support putting the goodie bags together and preparing Super and auction tickets. As always we would not even be able to put on a tournament without the prizes and auction items we get from Gene Smith, Director of the Champions Tour.
For further information: James E. “Red” Carpenter, 352.688.6720 or email: JCar1@tampabay.rr.com
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