Nearly 130 participants gathered at the Cartersville Country Club for the event where teams of four played best ball for the chance to win prizes along the way. On the putting greens, competitors had a shot at $5,000, while two players drove away prize vehicles.
Prizes, competition and camaraderie brought out the crowds Monday as the chamber celebrated a successful event. Group play sold out quickly as did hole sponsorships and other offerings for the chamber fundraiser.
“It was an unbelievable event,” said Jayce Stepp, golf tournament committee chair. “All of our sponsors were sold out the first week of August and we had all of our players as of the end of August, so we have been sold out for two months solid.”
Stepp himself took home one of the prize vehicles, an original 1974 Pontiac convertible, for winning a closest-to-the-hole contest. The classic car was donated on behalf of the Terry Reid Automotive Group from Reid’s personal collection and was recently used in the Cartersville High School homecoming parade.
A second car, a 2012 Kia Optima, also provided by the Terry Reid Automotive Group, was given away Monday to Joe Whorton of All Top Roofing for a hole-in-one on the fifth hole.
“It’s a community event and this year, we were fortunate enough to be able to financially sponsor it and hope to be able to next year,” Terry Reid Laughridge of Terry Reid group said. “The chamber just does so much and it really is a blessing living in Bartow County, we sometimes forget. If you have the luxury to travel as much as we’ve traveled — you come back home and always go, ‘wow.’
“It’s a blessing to be able to do this and to contribute.”
Chamber President and CEO Joe Frank Harris Jr. commented on the success of this year’s tournament.
“This has got to be the most successful chamber golf tournament we’ve ever had — it sold out so quickly,” said Harris. “We had a lot of people that we had to turn away that wanted to play, we couldn’t fit them in. You had to get on the waiting list early.
“It’s a big fundraiser for us and it’s just so exciting to see this sold out.”
For Stepp, the tournament’s growth and success have been long sought from their committee looking to make the event stand out from all others in the region.
“We’ve been working on it for three years to make this a pinnacle event in north Georgia and I think this year has put us over the top and we can only hope for better next year,” Stepp said. “Everything that we’ve asked for has happened and has exceeded our expectations and the only reason is because of our local businesses and our local sponsors.”