Team Destiny Triumphs in Golf Tourney

The Town of Herndon has endured one of its roughest winters in decades this year.

Hurricane-like winds, single-digit temperatures, ice storms and the ever-reliable mounds of plowed snow should be enough to make even the most devoted townspeople run for the hot sandy beaches of Florida. But Herndon is filled with rough and tough residents filled with resolve and might. And when they want to play golf, they are going to play golf.

Ten foursomes showed up at Herndon Centennial Golf Course Sunday morning—on what would surprisingly become the most beautiful day of the season, with clear blue skies and a high near 70 degrees—to play in the inaugural Winter Scramble Tournament.

Eric Stapars lined up his uphill, 20-foot-putt for birdie on the 18th hole in hopes that this might be the shot to seal the deal and wrap up yet another defending win of his "Team Destiny’s" .

Stapars struck the ball effortlessly, and rolling at perfect speed, it dropped in the bottom of the cup for birdie to give his team a score of a 15-under par, 56 for the win.

Rounding out Team Destiny with Stapars is Don Garrett, Bryant Smith and Chris Voloshin. Stapars said it was a gorgeous day for golf and each member contributed in the team’s victory.

“We had the same exact line up [as in the Gobbler Scrambler] and we all played well,” Stapars said. “Bryant putted well, I hit the ball really well and hit a lot of close iron shots, Chris drove the ball long like he always does, and Don really tore up the par threes.”

Stapars teammate joked about why his team’s regular rivals did not enter Sunday’s event.

“I think we might have psyched them out because a lot of them did not show,” Smith said in jest after ‘Destiny’s’ round.

The scramble format is a golfer’s favorite because it allows each teammate a chance to play his or her second shot from the spot of the best tee shot from the four players. All four players then play the best third shot from the best position of the second shot, and so on.

However, Herndon Centennial’s Head PGA Golf Pro Steve Clary said they like to keep things interesting by changing up the rules every so often.

“There is a two tee-shot-minimum per person so you can’t rely on one player the whole way around on your tee shots. Each player has to contribute two tee shots.” Clary said. “We try to do something so every player has to do something.”

Clary added that because of the lower turnout due to weather expectation, each team had better odds at winning.

“Most of our scrambles draw pretty well because they want to get out and play. The snow last week turned some people off and they didn’t know it would warm up so quick.”

Second place went to Greg Hickey, Brian Meyers, Cliff Coker and Charlie Kircher who are otherwise known as “The Brookmere Foursome.” They shot a very respectable 12-under, 59 on the day finishing just three shots back of ‘Destiny.’

“We started out on fire and towards the end we started struggling a little bit but we did fine,” Coker said. “Some of the pin placements were less than be desired, but we’ll take it [second place finish].”

The greens looked to be in great shape and though the fairways were a little wet due to storms last week, most golfers were happy with the course conditions on Sunday.

“For February, this is in phenomenal shape. You don’t expect 70 degrees and you don’t expect the course to look this good,” Voloshin said.

The foursome of Chris Dempsey, Chip Mullen, Jack Hession and his brother Andrew Hession nabbed third place with a 9-under, 62.

Overall, the event proved a success as golfers had a chance to compete on a Spring-like day while having fun with friends during and after their rounds.

Garrett sat at a table in the dining area with friends and jokingly put on a bragging session for the tape recorder.

“I think the reason why we do play so well is because none of us acts like we are the leader—it’s a democracy,” he said after the competition. “With that said, I am about 15 to 20 years older than the rest of my teammates, so they do call me 'The Captain' and when things get tight, they look to me for the comedic relief. So, if there is any major contribution that is made, it might be that."

Herndon Centennial will hold its next tournament, “The Spring Training Golf Tournament” at 10 a.m. on March 20. It's called a shamble instead of a scramble because baseball bats and other tricky devices will come into play. Each player must have a USGA GHIN handicap and a percentage of that handicap will be used.

The deadline to sign up is March 14.