Thirty-two men recently came together at Reynolds Lake Oconee to uphold a long-held Reynolds tradition: the Oconee Cup golf tournament.
The tournament was founded in 1995 by the late Tom Clement, one of the founding members of Reynolds Plantation/Lake Oconee.
Two teams of 16 players compete in a Ryder Cup format for three days. This year’s teams were Team Joyner and Team Cross, named for their captains, Tim Joyner and Stephen Cross.
On the first day of the tournament, Tuesday, Sept. 17, they played seven Best-Ball or Four-Ball matches on The Landing golf course. On Wednesday, Sept. 18, the tournament moved to The Oconee Golf Course, where the golfers played seven matches of Foursomes or Alternate Shots. Many of them said Wednesday was the most difficult day of the tournament.
At the end of Wednesday’s play, Team Cross was down 5-9. Both captains quipped that their teams were “exactly where I wanted them to be,” to resounding laughter from their team members. Cross noted that they “only had to win 11 of 16 matches on Thursday to take the cup.”
The tournament's final day was played at Great Waters, with 16 individual singles matches on Thursday, Sept. 19. In a remarkable comeback, Team Cross won the tournament by half a point.
“At the moment during a match, when you hit a good shot to win a hole or a bad shot to lose a hole, there is a rush, and it is exciting,” Cross said. “But as soon as the matches are over and the scores tabulated, it does not matter who won as long as all had a good time and enjoyed being in each other’s company. That is what I appreciate about the Oconee Cup, and it is how we honor the tournament founder, the late Tom Clement.”
Joyner, whose team won last year, said he enjoyed having the trophy at his house for the year, and now it is Cross’s turn. The large trophy sits on a wooden pedestal with the names of all the winners engraved on it. Joyner said he would occasionally walk over to the trophy, read some of the names, and remember the great men each name represented.
Of the tight finish in this year’s tournament, Joyner said, “It just shows how close the competition was.”
“Those days out there playing the tournament, it was so special to me to ride around as a captain and see the guys compete,” he said. “I got to see them have a good time and got to witness the true brotherhood we have.”
Playing in the tournament is by invitation only. The Oconee Cup Commissioner Pat McNabb, who was serving his first year as commissioner, said they try to keep it so that when a golfer plays once, they can return and play each year after that. However, this is not always possible due to substitutions for injured players.
“I think this year’s tournament was great, without a doubt, the most exciting year for the teams,” McNabb said. “We had a good blend of newer people and important contributions from the team captains. Senior Captain Tim Joyner put together some great prizes.”
A celebration and awards dinner were held at The Silver Moon restaurant Thursday evening, with entertainment by Fuzzy and The Works.
Joyner said it was the first time their dinner was held there, and Ginger at Silver Moon did an incredible job.
"Fuzzy and The Works were great, and it perfectly rounded out our event," he said.
Joyner was awarded the Tom Clement Award, which was presented by Tom Clement Jr., who played in this year’s tournament for the first time. The award was given to the player with the highest camaraderie and integrity during the competition.
“I think it’s the greatest honor that I could achieve is to represent my dad’s legacy here,” he said.