More than 40 golfers took to the green hills of Cambrian Ridge for Greenville High School’s first golf tournament fundraiser.

Despite the late start in preparing the event, Greenville High School head football coach Josh McLendon said that the tournament was a huge success.

“We had a great turnout, and we ended up raising around $17,000,” McLendon said.

“I’m just really, really appreciative of all our supporters—Wintzell’s, Southeast Alabama Gas, AIA, Goodwyn Mills and Cawood, Hwashin, Hysco—we’ve just had some really good support to help us out. It was a really good showing for the community and for the program, so I’m really appreciative of everything that everybody’s done.”

Participating golfers were drawn to the four-man scramble tournament due to the allure of a good time, as well as a handful of notable prizes.

The first, second and third-place teams received a prize, as well as additional rewards for closest to the hole and longest drive.

Chief among the prizes was a three-day, two-night stay at the Renaissance Hotel in Montgomery and Opelika.

McLendon said that the money raised is a solid start for the remainder of the year’s activities.

“That’s obviously not going to take care of us forever, but that’s a good start,” McLendon added.

“We’ve got several individual camps that we’re trying to take our guys to in order to get them some exposure to some colleges, but we’ll also do some team camps where we’ll get to do some 7-on-7s and some offensive line and defensive line work.  We’ll have a good, busy summer.”

One of the 40 participating golfers ended up being McLendon himself, as he had to fill in for a team that found itself short one member.

It wasn’t how he’d planned to spend his afternoon, but there are worse ways to spend an afternoon than on Cambrian Ridge.

“I was planning on just riding around and visiting, but I ended up playing and we had a great time,” McLendon said.

“I don’t play as much as I’d like to, but I do enjoy playing whenever I have the chance to get out there.”

The tournament’s success ensures that it’ll become an annual trend for Greenville High School, McLendon said.

“We hope to have 75-100 golfers next year,” McLendon continued.

“With me having a late start on getting the forms out there, we hope to do this earlier next year and get everyone involved to raise even more money for next year.”