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Sometimes a scramble team gets on a roll and carries it through to the title.
That's what happened Friday in the Veterans Day Tournament at the Chi Chi Rodriguez Course in Clearwater.
It was the 12th year for the event staged by Dunedin's American Legion Post 275. The tourney benefits needy families and children at Christmas.
Glenn Cox , a former PGA pro at Countryside Executive, captained the winning team. The other members, also Dunedin residents, were Paul Warth , Les Miller and Kevin Petrunik .
After starting on No.3 with par, the squad got on a roll on the par-4 fifth with a birdie. Then the team ran the table though No.18 with nothing but birdies, plus an eagle on the 472-yard par-5 13th.
"We used Les' long drive," said Cox, a Vietnam War Navy veteran who served two tours on river patrol. "I hit a 7-wood to the green within 10 feet. Putting third on the team, I sank the putt for the eagle.
"Everyone contributed all day," Cox said. "Paul, putting second, helped the team a lot. And with everything going good, there was no reason to change the order of play."
Cox's younger brother, Larry , was on the runner-up squad at 14 under.
"This tournament started 12 years ago with just four players," Larry said. "Today, we had a full field of 100 players.
"The most important thing is that we'll net between $1,000 and $1,200 to help needy families in the community. That's what this tournament is all about."
A third Cox brother, Rodney , served as director. He is the second vice-president of the Legion post, where the tournament awards banquet was held.
DREAMS COME TRUE: When Georgette Marchentile , a marketing assistant at Balmoral Senior Living Community in Palm Harbor, learned that resident George Ahren had a two-part lifetime golf dream, she decided to try to fulfill it.
Part 1 was arranging to play a round with his grandson, who lives in the Pittsburgh area. The other, apparently more difficult, was to meet several PGA Tour pros.
Balmoral purchased a plane ticket to fly in Justin Smith , Ahren's grandson.
Working with Rick Odioso in last month's Chrysler Championship at the Westin Innisbrook Resort, Marchentile's request struck home with PGA Tour officials. They have the Giving Back program, which is designed to accommodate such requests.
With the help of Second Wind Dreams, a non-profit group in Georgia that tries to change the perception of aging, Ahrens and his grandson got to meet and be photographed with Vijay Singh , the tour's 2004 player of the year; Davis Love III , Tom Lehmann , Fred Funk and Sean O'Hair .
"It made George's day, including getting Vijay's autograph," Marchentile said.
WENTWORTH CHAMPIONSHIP: The annual tournament is scheduled for Dec.3-4.
Champion Zach Sobel , 15, won't be defending the title since his family no longer is golf members.
Sobel, a Palm Harbor University High freshman, is coming off a third-place finish in the Class 2A state final with 72-75 for a 3-over 147 - best among Pinellas County boys.
Sobel, who plays to a zero handicap, wasn't a rookie this season. He had three varsity years with Berkeley Prep before transferring. He also played varsity baseball at Berkeley.
Sobel has improved his golf swing and overall game the past three seasons under the coaching of Lew Smither III of the Troon Golf Institute at Innisbrook.
Results of annual club championships and charity events should be sent to dttimes@knology.net Please include scores in relation to par.
BUDDY'S BAR TOURNAMENT: Cathy Bernard of St.Petersburg had the shot of the day at Twin Brooks on Nov.5. On the 111-yard 14th hole, she canned her tee shot with a 5-iron.
An 8-under 46 won the 11th annual event for the team of Randy Ringer , Randy Skelton and Joe Ginrich . They rotated the fourth shot in the group to level the playing field.
CGA: Jim Fannin , Richard Bullock and J.R. Robertson were the county's big winners last week, posting 76 in the regular and senior divisions. Bullock and Robertson tied among seniors.
Paul Wenson won (67) low regular net, and Al Kivlin captured senior net (65) using his 21 handicap.
BARDMOOR APPOINTMENT: Wesley Miller has been appointed head pro at Bardmoor Golf and Tennis Club. He had been head pro at Heritage Isles in New Tampa, another Crown Properties club, for four years.
Miller captained the Carson-Newman (Tenn.) College team and played on the pro mini tours for several seasons.