Delaney Ratchford was one of three "The Gibby" scholarship winners pictured with Gibby Gilbert, left, and committee member Josh Cain
Scholarship recipient Emma Claire Smith of Cleveland High School is pictured with Gibby Gilbert, left, and Josh Cain
Walker Valley won the Boy's Team competition led by individual medalist and scholarship winner Alex Robinson, right
Boyd-Buchanan won the Girl's Team competition as Gibby Gilbert, right, awards, from left, Alli Troxell, Olivia Choi and medalist Gibbie Kay Cain, Gilbert's granddaughter
Signal Mountain posted the best co-ed score to win "The Gibby" trophy
Delaney Ratchford has learned the value of sacrifice and perseverance since the day she was born. As a member of a set of triplets along with her brother and sister, she had no other choice.
The homeschooled student who competes on Ooltewah High School’s girl’s golf team has been able to carry many of those life lessons onto the golf course. Ratchford has also excelled in the classroom and in her community service, and her efforts were recognized Sunday evening as one of three “The Gibby” scholarship recipients awarded at The Ooltewah Club.
“In my essay I wrote about overcoming a knee surgery during my freshman year and how you never give up even when things are hard,” said Ratchford, who will continue her golf career at Dalton State next fall. “I also told how integrity is important in golf and in life, and it’s about doing the right thing whenever no one is watching. The great thing about golf is how it can shape your character.”
Other winners of the separate $5,000 scholarships were Emma Claire Smith of Cleveland High School and Alex Robinson of Walker Valley High School.
“The Gibby” was established last year in recognition of local golf legend Gibby Gilbert and his contributions to the sport. Gilbert was a three-time winner on the PGA tour with 57 top 10 finishes including finishing runner-up in the 1980 Masters Tournament.
He later won six times and had 50 top 10s on the Champions Tour later in his career and captured the Tennessee PGA Championship five times and was a four-time winner of the Tennessee Open.
As a tribute to Gilbert’s accomplishments and his commitment to promoting junior golf in the region, The Ooltewah Club created a scholarship fund for rising high school seniors in conjunction with a co-ed tournament for area teams.
The fund is administered through the Tennessee Golf Foundation, having doubled over the past year to more than $40,000 with an eventual goal of $100,000. One special donor who enabled a third scholarship to be awarded was Gilbert’s sister, Deborah Nelson, who made the gift in memory of her late husband, Kim.
Those interested in contributing to the “The Gibby” in helping reach the endowment goal can make checks payable to the Tennessee Golf Foundation and mail donations to The Ooltewah Club, Attn: The Gibby, 7502 Snow Hill Road, Ooltewah, TN 37363 or by contacting The Ooltewah Club golf professional Tom Durbin at thomas@theooltewahclub.com
Smith, who plans on attending two years of junior college before completing her degree in exercise physiology at Auburn University, also shared the values discovered through her golf career.
“You can try your best and practice consistently but you’ll still have days where you fail,” Smith said. “But it's your integrity that keeps you from shaving those strokes and taking away the win from somebody who deserves it. Because what's the point of the game if you don’t have integrity?”
Gilbert shared many of his own successes and failures over the course of his storied career. He recounted his round of 62 posted at Pinehurst No. 2 in 1973, a course record that still stands today shared with Tom Watson and Hale Irwin.
A member of several state and local halls of fame, Gilbert also offered lessons of perseverance and integrity from his own experiences to the crowd of junior golfers eager to pick his brain for his keys to success.
In Monday’s “The Gibby” tournament, Gilbert had the pleasure of awarding his granddaughter, Gibbie Kay Cain, with the medalist trophy from the Girl’s Individual competition. Cain, who attends Boyd-Buchanan School, won by six shots with a 3-over 75 that featured back-to-back birdies on holes 5 and 6.
Ratchford was second at 9-over 81 along with Bradley Central’s Colby Ann Turner. Duck Troxell of Ooltewah was fourth at 10-over 82, and Signal Mountain’s May May McGee finished fifth with 11-over 83.
Walker Valley’s Robinson captured a share of the Boy’s Individual medalist honors with his round of 1-over 73, finishing even with Brycen Blake of Chattanooga Christian.
Robinson delivered five birdies on his round along with four bogeys and a double bogey, while Blake managed a pair of birdies offset by a trio of bogeys.
Placing third was Walker Valley’s Colton Widener at 2-over 74, just ahead of teammate Harrison Yost at 3-over along with Signal Mountain’s Henry Beasley in a tie for fourth.
In the Boy’s Team event, Walker Valley won with an aggregate score of 16-over, winning by ten shots over runner-up East Hamilton which shot 26-over. The quartet comprising Walker Valley’s scores were Robinson (1-over 73), Widener (2-over 74), Yost (3-over 75) and Cooper Lemons (10-over 82).
Boyd Buchanan claimed the Girl’s Team title at 15-over, four shots better than Ooltewah’s combined score of 19-over. With the two low individual scores counting, Cain (3-over 75) and Ali Troxell (12-over 84) combined for the victory.
The winner of “The Gibby” trophy given to the team with the total best score from three boys and one girl was Signal Mountain High School with a tally of 318. In addition to Beasley, Tucker Cruise and Brayden Helle were part of the winning group among the boy’s members, along with McGee from the girl’s squad.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com