LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
The Third Annual Fisher House Golf Tournament, held Aug. 21 at the Gateway Hills Golf Course, raised $9, 276 in sponsor donations and funds for the three Lackland Air Force Fisher Houses.
Tournament play began at 8 a.m., lasting until noon, and concluded at Stillman Park with an awards ceremony luncheon, complete with the Fisher House check donation, trophy presentation for the top 10 teams and raffle.
Ed Constancio, Roland Garcia, David Paige and Tony Sowa completed the 18-hole course with a combined total of 55 strokes to win first place. The team used a strategy Constancio described as "be hot and let it fly".
We let our weakest team member go first and our strongest finish it out. That way if we hit the fairway, then we let our strongest players just rip it," Garcia added.
The tournament brought a competitive field of 33 teams. The disparity between first and 10th place was 10 strokes, and second place only lost by one stroke.
"The 10th place team was at 65 and that's pretty good," Garcia said. Trophies were awarded to the top 10 finishers, although volunteers recognized that there were no losers in this tournament. The team earning the highest stroke average was termed by one volunteer as the "Most Strokes Team."
Prizes raffled included a one-year membership to the shooting range and a two night stay at a Radisson Hotel. On behalf of Fisher House Inc., the event coordinated by Dwayne Hopkins and represented by volunteers of Lackland's Top Three, was sponsored by many contributors, including primary sponsors Joe and Jane Edwards, Lackland First Sergeant's Association, Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q, Security Service Credit Union and Radisson Hotels.
"It's huge. Rudy's was one of our biggest sponsors. We had our key sponsors and we had hole sponsors. So the First Sergeant's Association sponsored a hole and so did the NCOA. And what that does is raise money for food or anything else they need at the Fisher House," Hopkins said.
All proceeds were donated to Lackland's Fisher House, a non-profit organization used to provide free lodging, food and support to veterans and family members receiving medical treatment at a military facility. Fisher House serves as an alternative to hotel or hospital settings. "It's like the Ronald McDonald House for the military," Fisher House volunteer coordinator Marcia Valvo said.