National Golf and Softball Tournaments

Good Days for Good Springs

The Master’s Men National Golf and Softball Tournaments started with wet cloudy days. But ended with high temperatures and high spirits.

Rain was the forecast for Thursday’s morning as 40 golfers met at the Windtree Golf Course in Mt. Juliet, TN for the 2015 National Golf Tournament. While some decided to forgo the rainy fellowship, our guys got off to a wet start with heavier times to come. Most took a short break during the heavy times, but everyone finished.

Despite the wet conditions, scores were where you would expect for these dedicated golfers. The father-son team of Tommy and Cage Ellis won a scorecard playoff to better defending champions Ronnie Dunn and Paul Ballard, both with 5 under par 67s, to take first place in the Championship flight. Other winners were First flight, first place, Garnett Reid and Clint Morgan with the duo of Jim Gaw and David Allen finishing second in the flight with a matching 75. First place second flight went to the grandfather grandson team of Roger and Rusty Cooper with Eric Thomsen and Manuel Lopes finishing second with a matching score of 84.

While the weather was less than desirable, the attitudes and fellowship was sunny.

Thanks to all the brave golfers for the support of Master’s Men.

While it never rained on Friday or Saturday, the fields were soaked as the Master’s Men National Softball Tournament started. Twelve teams, representing six states participated in the 2015 classic.

The weather was perfect for softball the entire weekend. Friday saw a mostly cloudy day with temperatures in the low 80’s, while Saturday was sunny and warmer, but a light breeze kept the conditions great.

Every team played four games on Friday, finishing up around 5:00. At the end of round robin play, there were three undefeated teams. Play began on a foggy Saturday morning with eight teams starting the double elimination segment of the weekend. There was little time to rest between games as teams won and lost, play continued. By noon we were down to eight teams and by 2:00 we were down to four. As the trophy rounds began, some of the teams had already played as many as five games, and to continue, needed to play up to four more. When all was said and done, Good Spring from Tennessee, was the champion, winning the tournament for the very first time in their long history of participating. They finished with a perfect 8-0 record for the weekend. Finishing second was Lebanon FWB church from South Carolina. Finishing third was Sylacauga, Alabama with Northridge, Ohio finishing fourth.

We appreciate all the teams and their sportsmanship during the tournament.

We are looking for ways to boost attendance next year by adding more teams and are considering adding a co-ed tournament. We would love input from our churches.

The reason for the title is, the team of Ellis and Ellis, attend Good Springs FWB Church.

First Place: Good Springs FWB Church, Tennessee