Joe Riddle hits his ball from the fairway on a par-4 hole during a tournament Friday at Underwood Golf Complex’s Sunrise Course. The tournament was organized by the Fort Bliss chapter of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club to raise money for their scholarship fund. Photo by Dustin Perry.
Golf tournament raises money for SAMC scholarship fund
Dustin Perry, Editor
One team’s astonishing 20-under-par finish earned them a towering trophy, and participation from 15 other teams earned about $1,000 for the local Sergeant Audie Murphy Club’s scholarship fund during a tournament Friday at the Underwood Gold Complex.
The tournament was the first to be organized by the Fort Bliss SAMC, and the club’s members plan to use the proceeds from it and other fundraisers throughout the year to give $1,000 scholarships to five El Paso high school seniors.
Suspense for the tournament was short-notice, but the turnout met the expectations of the event’s organizers, said Sgt. 1st Class Adrian Patterson, a Soldier with 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade and an SAMC member.
“The community, they really supported this event,” said Patterson, who co-organized the tournament. “I had hoped for 20 to 25 teams to participate, but considering the short suspense, I think the outcome was good. We already have enough money for at least one of those scholarships.”
Played in a four-person scramble format, the tournament began on Underwood’s Sunrise Course with a 9 a.m. tee-off time. In a scramble match, each member of a team is allowed to hit from the tee. The team then decides which of their balls has the best lie and plays from that one, repeating the process until one of them sinks a shot.
The winning team of Jon Randel, Marc Schultz and Thomas and Albert Lara shot a stellar 52 – miles below Sunrise’s par of 72 – but still only won the tournament by a mere two strokes. Close behind them in second place were Rene Duron, Edwin Mariano, Dennis Urban and Joe Aguirre. In third place, with a 16-under-par score of 56, were Maurice Phinney, Jason Borgeson, James Allen and Joe Riddle.
Massive fan support helped members of 5th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division (Army Evaluation Task Force) shoot a respectable 9 under par, the team said. Michael Hunt, Jesse Avalos, Rodney Wilcox and Gerald Meinke invited Soldiers from their unit – several of whom knew very little about golf – to follow them in golf carts and watch as they played each hole.
“What was great about this tournament for us was that everybody was a team – even the non-players – because they supported us and got to learn about golf at the same time,” said Hunt. “I hope they have this event next year, because it was great and I think it will be bigger and better.”
Sgt. 1st Class Bianna Yeager, also an SAMC member and the other co-organizer of the tournament, said she considered it a success because Soldiers from every major Fort Bliss unit came out to participate.
“I can foresee in the future that, if we promote this, we can put on a spring and fall tournament and raise even more money than we are now,” said Yeager.
After the tournament, participants ate lunch and stayed for several raffle drawings, including a gas grill, a surround-sound speaker system, meal vouchers for El Paso restaurants and discount coupons for airline tickets.