SPORTS NEWS: Deborah Chapman
The Legend ……..And His Dream!! And it was Repeat Winners!!!
Labor Day weekend is always marked with the extraordinary tournament held in honor of the legendary man and coach: Neil Gutshall. Every year we write about Coach Gutshall and his demeanor and vision. However, without Coach Gutshall’s initial volunteer work, Holly Meadows Golf Course may not be the excellent course it is today. His dream was to have a top-notch golf course that the community could afford and would forever enjoy. Through his many tireless hours, Coach Gutshall helped to create Holly Meadows Golf Course as one of the most beautiful golf courses where all could play and enjoy a round of 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. Coach Gutshall’s name is very much respected throughout the community. His love of coaching and his love of golf draws 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 on and off the field. Because of his demeanor, Coach Gutshall was very much respected and regarded as one of our finest coaches in Tucker County. One of his former students, Mrs. Angie Evans said, “Neil Gutshall was one of my teachers and is very much respected throughout the county.” Mrs. Evans, her husband, and two sons have been hole sponsors for many years. She said, “we are glad to help honor such a nice man and to also support the Holly Meadows Golf Course.”
Many volunteers are following in Coach Gutshall’s footsteps. Under the direction of his son, Tom Gutshall, and the Tucker County Parks and Recreation Board, Holly Meadows continues to develop and thrive. Each year we have competitors that are continually amazed at how much the Holly Meadows Golf Course improves. Among this year’s record 128 golfers, you repeatedly 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, volunteers such as the late Bob Gainer, takes 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 on the course is done through its membership and volunteers. On any given day of the week, you will find such volunteers as Bill Evick, Joe Evans, Nick Channel, and Eldon Plaugher working on a project from cutting trees, treating the greens, and filling holes in the driveways. 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 they can play as a father /son team. One competitor, David Murphy 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 Gutshall, (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 128 golfers playing as a two-person team scramble ranging from the incredibly young golfers to our seniors. Golfers in this year’s event experienced some fierce weather on Saturday that included high winds, pelting rain, and a lightning delay for more than an hour. However, they persevered and finished the first day of competition. On the second day, weather forecasters were not promising; however, the weather held, and golfers were able to complete tournament play.
Golfers were provided lunch each day and agreed that the tournament’s organization was flawless 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 money towards 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 was provided by two wonderful businesses. However, many businesses throughout Tucker and Randolph County provided hole sponsorship and/or door prizes that always have created a successful tournament.
This year marked a very extraordinary finish. In the Championship Flight the winners, Hopwood/Shreve were also last year’s winners. They were very excited!
The results were:
Championship Flight–1st (Shreve/Hopwood), 2nd (Allen/ Williams), 3rd (Gissy/Pinkney), 4th (Mohre/Young)
First Flight– 1st (Carr, Gorham), 2nd (Sublett/Rainieri) 3rd (Haddox/Haddox), 4th (Clifton/Dennison)
Second Flight– 1st (Cooper/Landis), 2nd (Swecker/Swecker), 3rd (Laulis/Laulis), 4th (Gutshall/Cappy), 5th (Carpenter/Carpenter), 6th (Pennington/Evans)
Third Flight– 1st (Zimmerman/McGreal), 2nd (Bolyard/Mason), 3rd (Sims/Sims), 4th (White/Holt)
Fourth Flight– 1st (Evick/Spears), 2nd (Peasley?Moyer), 3rd (Ritter/Thorne), 4th (Kimble/Channel), 5th (Mason/Mason), 6th (Sperry/Sperry), 7th (Putman/Putman), 8th (Higgins/Mackey)
Fifth Flight– 1st (Chenoweth/Louk), 2nd (Allen/Allen), 3rd (Miller/Carr)