There were three big winners Monday at the 4th Annual $10,000 Timacuan Scramble at Timacuan Golf & Country Club.
One was the winning team of Rick Cochran, Mark Silvers, Jason Millard and Chase Naramore, who shot 19-under-par 53, then defeated three other teams in a sudden-death playoff with a birdie on the par 3 16th.
The second were all the fans who came out to follow PGA Tour star and U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell and his playing partners, Robert Gamez, Brian DeCorso and former world long-drive champion David Mobley. Not only were they treated to some incredible shotmaking on the course (the team shot 56), but also McDowell was beyond gracious in signing autographs and posing for photos with every junior and adult who asked.
The third big winner was the golf course. The Ron Garl-designed track, ranked as high as No. 14 in Florida by one publication, drew rave reviews from many of the players, including McDowell.
“I really enjoyed the golf course,” said McDowell, the Irishman who won the U.S. Open in 2010. “It is a great layout with a links-like feel to it. It can be testy in places if you get off the beaten path, but it is a very fair course. And it is in great condition.”
Gamez echoed his playing mate’s comments.
“This is a great golf course, especially for a format like this one,” he said. “It has a lot of risk/reward type holes. It’s is a lot of fun to play.”
The winning foursome needed a 20-foot birdie putt by Silvers on the first sudden-death hole to nip the three other teams who also shot 53. The victors, who pocketed the $10,000 first prize, had a celebrity feel in their group as well. Silvers recently won the Big Break-Greenbrier on The Golf Channel. He will be playing on the Web.Com Tour this season.
“It was a pretty straight putt up the hill,” said Silvers. “I just had to hit it hard enough.” After the putt went in, the team had to watch as the other three teams all failed to hole their birdie tries from shorter distances.
“I wasn’t surprised,” said Silvers. “That was a tough pin placement. Their putts were shorter, but our putt was actually easier because it was straighter.”
Silvers, too liked the golf course.
“Even though it was a Scramble format, you still had to play well because there are a lot of tough holes out there. There’s no faking it around this course,” he said.
Splitting second, third and fourth place money were the teams of: Drew Perry, Tommy Gibson, Jason Parajeckas, Michael Lawrence; Brian Mauer, Eric Steger, Chris Baker, David Bean; and defending champions Chris Ross, Randy Hutchison, Ryan Brehm and Barrett Kelpin.
Timacuan Golf and Country Club is a semi-private club located just off I-4, 15 minutes north of Orlando. For more information, visit www.golftimacuan.com, or call 407-321-0010.
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