The 5th Annual Clint Scoggins Memorial Golf Tournament took place on Saturday, June 25. It was held at Falcon Pointe Golf Club on Dalton Pike in Cleveland, Tennessee. The tournament raised $1,500 that was donated to Boys & Girls Clubs of the Ocoee Region.
The tournament fundraiser was created by Paxton Scoggins in honor of his cousin, former Bradley High School standout football player, Clint Scoggins. After high school, Clint owned and operated Premier Outdoor Services and was employed at UPS for nine years before passing away unexpectedly on Saturday, September 5, 2009 in a local hospital.
“I have a buddy who has played in a golf tournament every year for the last 12 years,” said Paxton. “They use the proceeds to give scholarships to a player at Bradley. And one day I was thinking about Clint and I thought it would be cool to do something in his honor since he was an athlete, a big football player for Bradley in the 90s. So I decided to start my own golf tournament and also use it as a way of giving money to local nonprofits.”
Paxton went on to say that a lot of Clint’s former classmates and teammates live in Cleveland and play in the tournament each year.
The first three years, Scoggins was able to donate funds to the Disabled American Veterans (Chapter 25). In the fourth year, Scoggins wanted to do something special for Cleveland city and Bradley County officers. He asked his friends and family to donate $1, $5, or $10 in order to provide a free meal from somewhere that an officer could pick up any time.
This year, Scoggins decided to donate tournament proceeds to Boys & Girls Clubs of the Ocoee Region. Both Paxton and his father, Don, had periodically attended the Club as kids. Paxton has distinct memories of attending the Club to play basketball.
Even though the promotion of the tournament has been simple and low-key, Paxton and his wife Elizabeth have had no trouble getting people to sign up to play.
After making a post on his personal Facebook profile, the tournament was filled up within two days: 72 players, 18 teams of 4-man select shot. In fact, the only real hurdle was the weather.
“I think we’re gonna move it to April next year,” said Paxton. “June is just so hot.”
For those interested in sponsoring a hole this year, the cost was only $30. Cost to play was $50 per person ( $200 per team). The tournament also offered $5 mulligans (8 per team, 2 per person), and breakfast was provided Rebel Drive-In Restaurant, a Cleveland icon since 1964, the same year that Boys & Girls Clubs of the Ocoee Region opened its first location at “Ballpark Curve” (3rd Street) in Cleveland. “The Club” is now Clubs with 14 units and two special programs (Camp Fletcher and YouthForce Workforce Development) spread across four counties, with two more units in the works, one in Etowah and one in the Copper Basin area.
