Sertoma draws record crowd

By DAN HOEHNE

daniel.hoehne@newssun.com

When giving back to the community, the generosity of Highlands County seemingly knows no bounds as the 33rd annual Sertoma/Highlands Independent Bank golf tournament drew an astonishing 268 golfers to Sun 'N Lake last weekend - a record number of participants for the event.

With all proceeds going to local causes and organizations - such as the hearing and speech impaired of Highlands County, ARC, the Boys Scouts of Highlands County and the Sertoma Junior Golf Tour, among many others - the tournament teed off with a two-man, best-ball scramble format with 10 different flights taking to both the Deer and Turtle Run courses amid sunny and somewhat steamy conditions.

Jeff Fleeman and Mark Dull teamed up to win the Championship Flight, carding a two-day gross of 125.

Five shots back for second were Bruce Cumbess and Greg Ellis with Dale Reed and Tim Devlin two more back at 132 for third.

Winners of the First Flight were Scott Hertel and Mike Byrum at 134 with Robert Georges and Perry Pasinetti second at 137.

Mike Browning and Mark Pinson also came in with a 137 but lost on a match of cards with Georges and Pasinetti to settle for third in the flight.

Onto the Second Flight, the duo of Mark Ginn and Jeff Dicks carded a 135 and were matched by Mike Moore and Darren Sapp, with the former pairing winning in a playoff while Todd and Lee Wilson took third with 140.

Ray Stepson and Andy Baney won the Third Flight with a 131 with Bill Winningham and Larry Smith taking second at 140 and David Whidden and Rick Baney third with a 142.

Fourth Flight honors went to Larry Henegar and Pete Almazan's 139 as Todd Bunday and Andy Augusto were four shots back for second at 143.

Dana Harris and Dennis Firth were another two shots back at 145 for third.

Charles Peebles and Russ Clement took the top spot in the Fifth Flight, carding a 140, two shots ahead of the 142 posted by Mike Zimmerman and Greg Kramer for second while Ronnie Handley and Chuck Waltman were third at 144.

Sixth Flight was won by Jason Johnson and Kenny Futch with their 145 with Jim Bennett and L.C. Smith second at 151 and Dennis Tondee and Dave Greenslade third at 155.

Steven Griffin and Byron Holcomb scored a win in the Seventh Flight with a 141, Tom Griffin and Greg Stupinski took second with a 152 and Mark Cox and Jim McCall placed third with a 154.

The Eighth Flight saw another playoff after Ted Kudlinski and Terry Little found their 155 matched by Jady Prescott and Scott Dressel.

Playing the Deer Run 10th hole for the playoff, Prescott and Dressel were able to sink a five-foot putt for par to take the win, leaving Kudlinski and Little in second and Linda Keith and Bob Weigers in third with a 160.

There wasn't quite the drama in the Ninth Flight as Don Darroh and Paul Repa took a six-stroke win with their 159.

Mike Kirsch and Michael Halloran were second at 165 with Chris White and Frank Caputo third at 168.

Another weekend of great golf action and another example of how the Highlands County community can pull together for worthy causes.