Tee to Green focuses on amateur tournaments

Providing a competitive event for the Ozarks' amateur golfers is the goal of the Scramble Tournament Series 2000.

We "allow the average, everyday, weekend golfer a chance to play in a serious golf tournament where they can really test their skills," said Jay Sutphin, the driving force behind Tee to Green, the company that coordinates the one-day contests.

"We play the ball down. Every putt counts. It's pretty serious golf, yet, we try to make it a lot of fun," he added.

Tee to Green, was launched last October when Sutphin shared his ideas with Dave Riley, a local engineer and T2G partner. Initially, staging fund-raising golf events for company outings was to be T2G's focus.

To promote this, Scramble Tournament Series 2000 was developed to create awareness and "draw attention to the company," Sutphin said.

The 32 weekly tournaments, however, which began in mid-March and are scheduled to conclude into late October, have taken on a life of their own, he said. His time is now spent dealing with STS 2000 sponsors, golf courses and players.

Oddly enough it was attending fishing tournaments while employed in the marine industry that started Sutphin thinking about putting on amateur golf events.

"I didn't fish, which was kind of the weird thing, but I really enjoyed the tournaments," he said.

Sutphin said he hopes STS 2000 creates a similar kind of venue for golfers to compete and share in the camaraderie of other amateurs.

Sutphin, an avid golf enthusiast with a six handicap, spent three years researching the Internet for companies affiliated with amateur golf.

"There's really nobody doing this anywhere else in the country," he said.

Tournaments are held at courses in Springfield and the surrounding area. Most events are two-person scrambles in which teams play the best tee shot. Teams are made up of a variety of people: husbands and wives, retirees, young people, business colleagues and others. The contests are "really for every skill level," Sutphin said. Entry fees are $70 per person per tournament.

Winners are grouped into three flights according to team scores. Each flight has a first, second and third-place finisher.

During the tournaments, T2G staff members radio in team scores to keep the numbers current.

A computer program, which Riley wrote, keeps track of totals and "basically throws out the very wild highs and lows," Sutphin said.

It also rapidly tabulates players' final scores, reducing lag time so prizes can be awarded. Any team winning any flight during the season is automatically qualified for the championship at Branson Creek Oct. 28.

Payouts to placing teams range from $150 to $400, as well as plaques to the top finishers. "We can't give the players cash because that makes them professionals," Sutphin said. Instead, T2G awards more than $2,200 every tournament in T2G gift certificates.

These can be exchanged for rounds of golf at any of the participating courses, golf equipment and other related merchandise. He said this arrangement was critical. If the courses hadn't agreed to it, he added, "we probably would not have done the series."

There are three levels of sponsorship for STS 2000. Eagle, Birdie, or Par packages give sponsors exposure on items ranging from tournament leader boards to T2G's Web site to the forthcoming T2G magazine. Additionally, sponsors can provide their own gift certificates for feats such as hole in one, longest drive, closest to the pin and longest putt.

Sutphin sees T2G's future in three areas: the annual STS tournament; fund-raising golf outings for companies; and specialty events such as "Who's the best left-handed golfer in Springfield?" or "Who's the best doctor player in town?"

He said he'd like to expand T2G to Tulsa and Texas next year, "and hopefully take it national within about five years."