The 19th annual Sumter County Sheriff Bill Farmer’s Annual Golf Charity for Youth held at Tierra del Sol on Saturday raised well over $30,000, the final number is still being tallied, for programs and scholarships for the youth of Sumter County. The first place trophy went to Charlie Brooks, John Nee, Richard Travisano and Tony Cronin.
“We had three mulligans left,” said Travisano. He credits their win to Cronin’s eagle on the 18th hole. This foursome has played this tournament for five years; they tied for first two years ago. Brooks, known to many Villages golfers because of his Wednesday group, has played this tournament about 12 times.
“I was a sheriff in Jefferson County, Alabama and we did a similar thing, I moved here in 1999 and have participated every year that I could. It is for such a great cause,” he said.
Many of the 288 golfers in this year’s tournament have participated multiple times.
For Larry Bowlby, retired Massachusetts state trooper, this was his 18th tournament and Sumter County Deputy Richard Bennett has golfed in all 19 tournaments. “This thing is at least three times as big as when we started,” said Bennett.
Another growing area of the tournament is the sponsorship.
“We have over 200 sponsors,” said community outreach coordinator and golf tournament organizer Theresa Cooper.
“We appreciate each and every one of them. We also thank all of our volunteers who really help make this event go off,” she said.
Following the tournament, participants gathered at the Savannah Center for dinner.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reaching out and helping the youth of Sumter County,” Sheriff Farmer told the crowd at the post-tourney banquet.
The money is used in a variety of ways from college scholarships, to the youth ranch summer camps and for isolated cases such as recently helping students that qualified for the national science fair in California but did not have the money to cover the trip expenses. “We appreciate the support and are looking forward to our 20th anniversary next year. It means a lot that so many of you take the time to come out and support the youth,” Farmer said.
