BY MERLE MONAHAN/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
merlemonah@aol.com

SUFFOLK—The first E. Talmadge Darden Golf Tournament at Sleepy Hole Golf Course in Suffolk raised $3,000 for Relay for Life.

The team of Gene Harrell, Rudy Byrd, Dana Casilas and Jim Shultz won the tournament. Bryan Winter won closest to the pin, while Ed Hyatt won the longest drive.

Team Darden Captain Hope Bradshaw was pleased with the 18-hole event, which included 10 teams.

“This being our first tournament, we were somewhat skeptical, but everything went off perfectly, right on schedule,” Bradshaw said. “Everyone I talked to said they enjoyed the day.”

Darden, a renowned chef, musician and beloved principal of King’s Fork Middle School, died of cancer on May 12, 2011. The Carrsville man was 54.

Bradshaw and her husband, Robert, organized the tournament, which included dinner catered by Ricky and Roy’s Barbeque.

Bradshaw was amazed at the number of people who helped.

“Several of Mr. Darden’s cousins were there and participated in a number of events,” she said. “His cousin, Earlene Griffin, and her husband, Joe, sponsored an entire team and Earlene made a beautiful cake to be used as a door prize. Another cousin, Jennifer Groves, was a tremendous help in making the signs to be used to identify sponsored holes.”

“We could not have done this without the help of our players, sponsors and volunteers,” Bradshaw added. “Knowing Mr. Darden, he would have loved everything about the tournament. He used to say, ‘We had a lot of fun, great food and great fellowship.’”