Golf team represents Eglin at inter service tournament

  • Published
  • By Kevin Gaddie
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  A golf foursome from here had a strong showing recently in an Armed Forces level tournament at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.

Roger Bloor, Jason Hadley, Christian Honda and Kyle WesolowskI participated in the 47th Southeastern Military Invitational. Wesolowski and Bloor took first and second place in individual play, respectively, in a field of 66 active duty players. The group finished second overall in team competition.

Wesolowski, from the 1st Special Operations Maintenance Squadron, shot a total of 309 for four rounds to win his first Armed Forces tournament.

"There was good competition out there," he said. "The course was playing kind of rough and it got the better of everyone. After the first two days I got a better idea of how to play the course - how to back down and not be so aggressive, and realize that par was a good score based on the conditions. It was a good learning experience and I was happy to win."

Eglin's team came in second behind NAS Jacksonville's squad. They were behind Jacksonville by 20 strokes, but rallied to their second-place finish by making up 11 strokes on the final day.

Hadley, a member of the 9th Special Operations Squadron, admitted struggles on the dry course.

"If you missed the green, it was easy to go from looking at a birdie to going double-bogey," said Hadley, who'd played the invitational twice before. "I was happy to play with good friends and have a good time. I'm looking forward to next year."

Honda, from the 96th Communications Squadron, formed the team. He was glad to make the cut on his second trip to Jacksonville. "I was happy to contribute to the team," he said. "We had a great time."

Bloor, also from 96th CS, has played on several Air Force teams during his career.

"Team play actually puts a little bit of pressure on you, knowing you don't want to let the team down," he said. "Not only do you want to do your best, but you want to see your team succeed as well, and I believe we did that."

Players are normally selected to represent Eglin for team play through both the Eglin Golf Course manager and the players themselves, based on handicap, experience and previous levels of competition, according to Bloor. Others can participate as individuals, he added.

Bloor praised this group as "the best we've had from Eglin in a long time. We've certainly have a lot of solid players in this area, but this team scored better than teams from the past several years. We were happy to represent Team Eglin like we did."