The Legend ……..And His Dream

Labor Day weekend is always marked with the extraordinary tournament held in honor of the legendary man and coach: Neil Gutshall. Without Coach Gutshall’s vision and previous volunteer work, Holly Meadows Golf Course may not be in its present pristine condition today.

His dream was to have a top-notch golf course that the community would forever enjoy.  Through his many tireless hours, Coach Gutshall helped to create Holly Meadows as one of the most beautiful golf courses where all could afford to play golf. Coach Gutshall loved golfing and he wanted to create a venue where everyone would have an opportunity to learn and to love the game of golf.

Coach Gutshall’s name is very much respected throughout the community. His love of coaching and his love of golf draw the admiration of all. Jeff Felton of California, formerly from Tucker County and is an annual hole sponsor said, “what a nice way to honor such a humble man.” Coach Gutshall always spoke highly of his players that he coached and because of his demeanor was very much appreciated and valued as one of our greatest coaches in Tucker County.

Many volunteers have followed in Coach Gutshall’s footsteps. Under the direction of his son, Tom Gutshall, Holly Meadows continues to develop and thrive. Each year we have competitors that are continuely amazed at how much the Holly Meadows Golf Course expands. Among this year’s record 122 golfers, you continually hear compliments about how beautiful the setting and surroundings are and as always the key question is, “how do we keep the course in its present unspoiled conditions.” Our answer is always, “the volunteers make this golf course one of the best places to play golf.” Just as Coach Gutshall did, all the volunteers take pride in making Holly Meadows Golf Course a place golfers want to return.

Many golfers say that Holly Meadows course conditions are unparalleled to other courses that are much bigger and have the personnel needed for maintenance and preservation of their courses.

The competitors cannot believe that work at the course is done through its membership and volunteers. Because of the course conditions and the actual tournament competition, we have golfers returning year after year including Gary Chenoweth from Texas to compete. We have several father and son teams that say this is one competition that they enjoy the most because it is with their father. One competitor said, “how many people get to compete in an athletic competition with their father.” “We definitely are making memories and I wouldn’t miss this opportunity to be with my dad.”

Because the tournament is flighted, everyone competes with like abilities creating the best competition possible. Every year, competitors are greeted with an outstanding venue. Tom, (president of the golf course committee) and Bob Gutshall, sons of Neil Gutshall both agree that their dad would be so pleased that so many golfers come to Holly Meadows and compete in his honor.  This year the tournament had a record 122 golfers. Play consists of a two-person scramble ranging from the very young to our seniors.

Golfers were provided lunch each day and agreed that the tournament’s organization was impeccable and very enjoyable. On the first day of the tournament, St. George Medical Clinic provided a $50,000 prize for a hole-in-one and on the second day, Performance Motors of Elkins provided a new car for a hole-in-one. While no one won these prizes, it goes to the integrity of the tournament that such support is provided by two wonderful businesses. However, many businesses through their hole sponsorship and/or door prizes helped create a successful tournament.

The results were:

Championship Flight-1^st (Shreve/Hopwood), 2^nd (Bolyard/Mason), 3^rd (Sublett/Rogers), 4^th (Dearborn/Cooper), and 5^th (Mohr/Mohr).

First Flight– 1^st (Arbough/Moore), 2^nd (Swecker/Rockhard) 3^rd (Clevenger/Clevenger), 4^th (Laulis/Laulis), 5^th (Clifton/Denison), 6^th (Sisk/Simon)

Second Flight– 1^st (Osborne/Osborne), 2^nd (Judy/Michael), 3^rd (Simmons/Bush), 4^th (Hank/Barb), 5^th  ( Slaughbaugh/Ours),  6^th (Bowers/Bowers)

Third Flight– 1^st (Corban/Tobin), 2^nd (Elmore/McGee), 3^rd (Clark/Lina), 4^th (White/Hott), 6^th (Michaels/Shaffer)

Fourth Flight– 1^st (Capeletti/B.Gutshall), 2^nd (Spotloe/McGee), 3^rd (Higgins/Higgins), 4^th (Davis/Hockman), 5^th (Hansford/Triplett)

Fifth Flight– 1^st (Wamsley/Roberts), 2^nd (Keene/Laulis), 3^rd (Jarrett/Jarrett)