The ninth annual St. Patrick Catholic Church Golf Tournament drew 72 golfers from throughout the Miss-Lou to Panola Woods Country Club for 27 holes of fun.

The three-person, 27-hole scramble has been a successful fundraiser for the church, according to tournament chairman Suzanne Vegas.

“We started it nine years ago to raise funds for our new community center,” she said. “We’re always the first tournament (at Panola Woods), so there’s always a lot of people ready to come out and play. We always have a good turnout.”

The tournament helped the church to pay off the community center last year. All funds from the tournament go to the church building fund, she said.

In tournament play, prizes were awarded to the top three teams in three flights, with $300 going to each first place team, $240 going to the second place team and $105 going to the third place team.

In the championship flight, the team of Pat Hinson, Cathy Hinson and Derrell Reid took home first place, shooting a combined 87 in the 27 holes.

“We’ve played this tournament every year and it’s always a great tournament,” Cathy Hinson said.

The team of Brent Smith, Mike Cook and Mike Pace finished second in the championship flight, and Dr. Huey Moak, Jerry Johns and Mike Rabb finished third.

In the first flight, Phil Lindley, Kinnie Carlton and Phil Hennington finished in first place, while the teams of Josh Hargin, Shane Martin and Brian Fisher, along with Phillip Webber, Ben Hendricks and Danny Parks, tied for second place.

Jack McLemore, Wade Weatherly and Walt Wilson finished in first place in the second flight.

“I’ve come all nine years and I’ve never won anything,” McLemore, of Vidalia, said. “I had a wonderful team, we shot great golf and the weather was perfect. We had a great time.”

Jess Horton, Dee Horton and Rhett Hill finished in second place. The team of Rusty Smith, Beau Smith and Dr. George Cummings and the team of Craig Jackson, Michael Burley and Paul Hammett tied for third.

Hendricks won the closest to the pin award, and Brian Fisher won the longest drive.

The Rev. Anthony Dharmaraj, a former priest at St. Patrick Catholic Church who started the tournament, said he always likes to come back to visit old friends.

“The tournament is good for the church and good for the people,” he said. “I come every year. I like to come. It’s like a homecoming. I come and meet old friends and meet some of the people who taught me golf.”