The City of Darlington won the Darlington Downtown Revitalization Association (DDRA) annual golf tournament on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, at Darlington Country Club. Team members included Assistant Fire Chief Charles Bailey, Firefighter Chase Bailey, DJ Bruce, and Keith Young.

A full flight of 19 teams filled the DDRA's first fundraiser since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March. The weather held throughout the day, and players enjoyed the food, fun, and fellowship on the course and afterwards at the club house.

Darlington County Water & Sewer Authority came in second place, and Marlboro Development Team took third. Prizes for the longest drive went to Elbert Warren of Darlington County Water & Sewer Authority. Closest to the Pin prizes went to Lawrence Lowe of the Lowes Tow Bars team on Hole 4, to Bowman Hiller of the Janney Investment team on Hole 9, to Jamie Stanley of the Fahrenheit 225 team on Hole 11, and to Dennis Lofe of the Wilson Senior Care team on Hole 14. Matt Jackson of the Coca-Cola team took home the 50-50 drawing prize.

Darlington Country Club presented the Duffers Award to the Coca-Cola team.

"The support of Carolina Bank and Darlington Raceway make this event possible every year, and we appreciate how much they support our program specifically, but also the community as a whole," says Billy Hill, co-chair of the golf tournament.

"The addition of Nationwide Insurance and Fitness World Gyms as presenting sponsors the last two years has grown the tournament and shows that what the DDRA does matters," says Ronnie Ward, co-chair of the golf tournament.

Other sponsors included Coca-Cola, Belk Funeral Home, Eads Chiropractic Center, Nancy Matthews at Edward Jones Financial, FBi Construction, Lowe's Tow Bars, Marlboro Development Team, Wilson Senior Care, Howle Law Firm, Palmetto Office Furniture, The Purple Fish Coffee Company, Singletary's Tire & Auto, and Vaughan Insurance.

Proceeds from the tournament help fund community projects such as the Bringing Downtown Alive! Concerts, Darlington Veterans Memorial, streetscape and beautification projects, and business seminars, among other things to assist and promote our businesses.

New this year, in lieu of some other events that are made impossible because of the pandemic, the DDRA has created a summer-long contest to encourage residents to eat locally and to help our locally owned restaurants recover from the pandemic.

"As the curveball of COVID-19 has impacted our community, we wanted to find some way to support our businesses," says Lisa Rock, executive director for the DDRA. "Especially as restaurants have been hit so hard during these difficult times."

Details of the contest can be found at www.BuildUpDarlington.org/EatLocal.

Grand sponsors included Carolina Bank, Darlington Raceway, Nationwide Insurance, and Fitness World Gyms.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Teams included Carolina Bank, City of Darlington, Wilson Senior Care, Fahrenheit 225, Marlboro Development Team, Eastern Industrial, Dennis Insurance Agency, Darlington County Water & Sewer Authority, Fast Track Convenience Stores, Nationwide Insurance, CPS Alarms, FBi Construction, Lowe's Tow Bars, Coca-Cola, Nicholson Business Systems, Janney Investments, Darlington Raceway, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, and Dedicated Community Bank.

Winners from 2020

1st Place - City of Darlington: Assistant Fire Chief Charles Bailey, Firefighter Chase Bailey, DJ Bruce, and Keith Young.

2nd Place - Darlington County Water & Sewer Authority: Frank Hough, Elbert Warren, Tyrone Lynn, and James Linton

3rd Place - Marlboro Development Team: William Fleming, Ben Fleming, Bill Fleming, and Matt Haynie

Duffers Award - Coca-Cola Team: Matt Jackson, Aubry Watts, Michael McDowell, and Vaughn Gillis

Longest Drive on 10: Elbert Warren of Darlington County Water & Sewer Authority

Closest to Pin Hole 4: Lawrence Lowe of Lowes Tow Bars

Closest to Pin Hole 9: Bowman Hiller of Janney Investments

Closest to Pin Hole 11: Jamie Stanley of Fahrenheit 225

Closest to Pin Hole 14: Dennis Lofe of Wilson Senior Care