Playoff determines Tucker champions

MEEKER I A good coach can always bring the best out in his athletes and the late Bob Tucker was known for doing just that, whether on a football or baseball field or basketball court.
And the best came out of the golfers in the third annual Bob Tucker Memorial Tournament.
A five-hole playoff between two teams was needed to determine the champions and four teams tied for the best net score in the four-person scramble tournament, played last Saturday on a sometimes sunny but windy and chilly day at the Meeker Golf Course.
“Despite the weather everybody seemed to have a great time,” said Jo Tucker, the late coach’s widow, who along with her oldest daughter Shellie Tucker-Gustafson, organized the event. The tournament had been postponed earlier this season because of snow.
At the end of the 18 holes, Chad and Shawn Luce, Bill de Vergie and Pat Hughes tied with Irven Griffin, Donald Blazon, Ron Kelly Crawford and Pattie Terp with a 9-under-par 59 for the best gross score and a playoff started after the meal served by Ma Famiglia.
“We finally birdied five to win it,” de Vergie said. “After four, we decided if someone didn’t win on the next hole, we would flip a coin because it was getting cold.”
Although Griffin’s team did not win the playoff, he and two of his teammates won other contests during the tournament. Griffin was closest to the pin, while teammates Crawford and Terp had the longest drives for their respective genders. Mindy Burke, a former all-conference basketball player for Coach Tucker, won the closest to the pin for the women.
A four-way tie between Doug Pfau, Brett Steinacher, Dave and Kirsten Amburgey; Bobby Shelton, Dave Fiscus, Rob Vavak and Keith Rule; Jason Steiner, Matt, Brady and Brandan Jensen, along with Greg Ackerman, Hunter Fellows and Kurtis Dunbar, was not played off.
The tournament is played to raise funds for a scholarship in Coach Tucker’s name.
“We greatly appreciate all the support from our sponsors, all the players and what everyone did to make it a success,” Jo Tucker said.