Submitted by Jan Umphrey

The Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce had its 18th annual golf tournament for education on April 1. This event was deemed a great success.

An estimated $6,000 was raised for education.

After a couple days of bad weather, the clouds parted and made way for a beautiful day. The 28 teams battled it out on the gorgeous greens of Peninsula Golf and Racquet Club.  Joe Joe McCarron, Doug Sizemore, Bryant MacKellar and Ty Thompson placed first with lowest gross.  Second Place lowest gross went to Mark Acker, Dr. Rico Eslava, Cole Bass and Todd McDaniel. The third place lowest gross was claimed by Don Goodman, Larry Snedeker, Jason Stephenson and Bob McKeen.

The tournament also resulted with lowest net being claimed by first place Mark Stillings, Jim Edgemon, Ed Nix and Tim McCrory; second place Dean Mason, Jeff Boyd, Matt Wilson and Ken Buck; and third place, Tom Steber, Dwayne Vanover, Fred Faulkenberry,and David Peters.

With the changing scenery along the Marsh and the Lakes courses, the players found a new challenge with each hole.

Matt Wilson was recognized as the player with the longest drive. Brad Kaiser and Bryant MacKellar were crowned closest to the pin.

A golf tournament would not be complete without recognizing the team that outperformed them all with the most strokes. Sarah Green, Clay Pontius and Travis Valentine tied with Darrell Hulen, Lisa Hulen, David Littleton, and Rhonda Littleton to be named as the tournament’s “most honest” teams.

Golf Pro Todd Edwards awarded each player with a free golf lesson at Peninsula.  This group should be in the running for the best team next year!

The chamber would like to thank the players, hole sponsors, businesses that donated, and the volunteers for making this event a great success. A special thanks goes to Peninsula Golf & Racquet Club for hosting the event; Gulf Publishing & Gulf Distributing for sponsoring the beverage cart; and Suncoast Beach Services and F&E Sportswear for the t-shirts.  All net proceeds from this event benefit the public schools of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach through Coastal Baldwin Education Enrichment.  The tournament has raised an estimated $6,000 for education.