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NATCHEZ — The Joe Fortunato – Allen Brown Golf Classic was won by a group of buddies who hadn’t played the tournament in a few years. Tom Bryant, Howard Jones, Mark Carter and Al Guido took first place with a 54. 

They made a birdie on every hole to win the tournament shooting -18 under par in a scramble. Scramble is a version of golf where players play what they determine is the best ball for each shot. 

“We started on nine and went birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie and birdie. It was awesome,” Bryant said. “We are better than Nick Faldo when he shot -13 under in the British Open. We had a good time and a good team. We had fun.” 

They decided to play as a team as a spur of the moment. Bryant said they saw signups were open for the tournament this week and they signed up. 

In total, 88 golfers played in the tournament. With 22 teams, the tournament raised 8,800 on entry fees alone not including any money made from advertisement signs. Money raised from the golf tournament goes to the Miss-Lou chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholarship fund. 

Kenneth Roberts, Casey Hamm, Glynn Laird and Bryant won closest to the hole and Russ Simonton won longest drive. Roberts joined Samuel Merriett and Eli Wilson as representatives of Delta Charter, ACCS and Cathedral in the tournament. Jaylin Haywood from Natchez was also invited to play, tournament chair Freddie Sandel said. 

Jordan Farmer, Henry Farmer, Jay Lessley and Paul Guido shot 56 to finish second in the championship flight. John L. Sullivan, Richie Spears, James Moffett and Russ Marks finished third with a 57 in the championship flight. 

Luke Spillers, Russ Simonton, Ashley Cox and Dusty Hutto shot 60 to finish first in the first flight. They tied with Glen Laird, Adrian Stallone, Jake Middleton and Phil Hennington who finished second based on a scorecard tiebreaker.  Daniel Guedon, Duncan Guedon, Andrew Moroney and Blake Smith finished third on a scorecard tiebreaker. 

In the second flight, Bruce Ross, Brian Newman, Mike Armentor and Kris Kirkman finished first with a 62. Richard Prescott, Malcolm Hall, Johnny Lazaro and Wes Foster shot 63 to finish second. Jacob Jenkins, Gabe Smith, Andrew Beesley and Pate Shirley finished third with a 63 decided on a scorecard tiebreaker.