Written by SGT Jason Ross
2nd Brigade Combat Team PAO
Fort Campbell, KY – Golf is a sport loved by people all over; Soldiers are no different. Fort Campbell’s Cole Park Commons Golf Course hosted the Week of the Eagles, Legacy Golf Tournament August 13th. Despite inclement weather, 36 teams came out for the best ball style tournament hoping to emerge on top.
“I think we have some great teams out here,” said Maj. Gen. James C. McConville, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell. “I think it’s a great day to come out and celebrate being a part of the 101st Airborne Division.”
“I feel that we assembled a great team”, said Staff Sgt. Daniel Robert, the information operation senior enlisted for the Strike Brigade. “Overall we all played well and came out on top.”
According to the winning Strike team, playing golf requires skill and not just about hitting the ball. A good player can guide the ball and position it for optimal play.
The legacy Golf Tournament also held a ‘Closest to the Pin’ competition for par-three holes. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Eric Ward, an ammunition officer for Strike, won this competition with a hole-in-one on the 17th hole, a feat not easily achieved. Landing approximately eight feet behind the pin the ball rolled backwards and fell into the cup. Excited and apprehensive, Ward ran to the green to see for himself what he had just done.
“That’s my first hole in one!” shouted Ward. “Its kind of surreal, this is the kind of thing you don’t see everyday.”
At the end of the day while waiting on the final scores to be tallied, the teams all came together and shared their stories about how they played and congratulated one another.
Seemingly unfathomed by the rain and bleak skies, the participants laughed, joked and appeared rather content with their day’s outcome. The teams all had a solid foundation of camaraderie.
“We’re reminded that we are playing for the brigade, not as individuals,” said Capt. Robert Calkins, the company commander for Headquarters and Headquarters Company 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion. “And knowing that, it helped us play better as a team.”
Finishing second was the team from 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment with a score of 12 under par. And taking the bronze was Dental Activity (DENTAC) shooting 11 under par.
