The 12th annual Farmville Chamber Centra Golf Tournament was held May 10 at The Manor Golf Club. The event offered a day of golf and special events to Chamber members as well as a helping hand to the FACES Food Pantry that was flooded during last week’s heavy rainfall.

“Whenever the Chamber does a fundraiser, I feel that we should also give back to the community,” Chamber Executive Director Joy Stump said. “When the board met to select a recipient for this year’s donation, FACES was the logical choice.”

The golf tournament, one of the Chamber’s main fundraisers for the year, is held rain or shine.

“This year we didn’t worry about the weather — it was beautiful,” Stump said. “But later in the afternoon a big storm rolled in, and some of the foursomes weren’t able to finish.”

Nevertheless, Chamber Board of Directors Chair Brad Watson deemed the event “a great success.”

“We had 23 foursomes — a good number for a Captain’s Choice tournament, and we were able to raise a good deal of money for the Chamber,” he said. “It’s a real business community effort.”

Winners in the 2018 tournament were: First place — Davenport & Company (1st flight) and Fishin’ Pig (2nd flight); second place — Luck Stone (1st flight) and Timmons Group (2nd flight); third place — Pearson Equipment (1st flight) and Longwood University (2nd flight).

In place of the helicopter ball drop this year, the Chamber opted to hold a raffle during the after-tournament reception.

“We had 25 or more businesses donate prizes,” Stump added.

“When we did the ball drop, there was only one prize,” Watson noted. “With the raffle a lot of people went home with prizes,”

Another feature of this year’s tournament was Oasis Beverage Stations.

“We set up five beverage locations sponsored by different businesses,” Stump said. “Sponsors were able to set tents and share information about their business.”

Other special events included hole-in-one prizes offered by Krazy Kenny’s Car Coop and Merk’s Restaurant. The lucky golfer who hit a hole-in-one could drive away in a Car Coop car or visit Merk’s for a prime rib dinner for four. Unfortunately, no one claimed either prize this year.

Stump concurred that the 2018 tournament was a successful event for the Chamber.

“I love to see business people making connections and having a great time,” she concluded. “I appreciate everyone who helped make the tournament a success.”