Charlie Lacy of Lake Brownwood and M.C. Yocham of Cleburne fired an eight under par 64 to win the 2017 Gearold Ledsome Invitational golf tournament at The Hideout at Feather Bay on Lake Brownwood last Saturday, but capturing the first place trophy was anything but easy.
Lacy and Yocham had two teams on their tail all afternoon. In fact, when the score cards where turned in, the two-person scramble team of Truett Harris and Mitch Hall from Frisco had also scored an eight under 64. The championship was determined by a score card playoff. Lacy/Yocham recorded a birdie on the number one handicap hole, the par 5, seventh hole, giving them the championship.
The Brownwood team of Chad Calvert and Jim Sutton finished third with a score of 65. Calvert/Sutton made the turn four under par, but Lacy/Yocham owned the back nine posting a score of 29.
Tracy Lowery, club professional at The Hideout, said an eagle, recorded by the team of Lacy/Yocham on the par 5, 16th hole was the shot of the tournament. From 224 yards out, Yocham played the safe shot and laid up. Lacy took dead aim, nailing a fairway wood to within five feet of the pin. Yocham rolled in the eagle putt. “The competition in this tournament was fierce and it came down to one hole, an eagle on number 16 that placed the team of Lacy/Yocham in a tie with Harris and Hall. The score card birdie on number 7 gave the championship to Lacy and Yocham. It was that close,” explained Lowery.
This was the first annual Gearold Ledsome Invitational, explained Lowry. The invitational tournament that was played along with the Texas Amputee Golf Championship was the brainchild of Denise Hudson, who heads up the Convention and Tourism Bureau at the City of Early, called Visit Early, Visit Often.
“Gearold Ledsome was seriously injured in an auto accident back in December 2016. Gearold was a golfing member here at The Hideout before his accident, and he was the defending champion of the 2016 Amputee Texas Golf Championship. Hopefully, he will be able to tee it up again someday, but this year, he was not able to defend his championship.
“Denise came up with the idea to start an invitational sponsors’ tournament in honor of Gearold. We thought it would be a good idea. It turned out to be a great idea.
“Teams were formed to represent each sponsor and we had tremendous talent from around the state come here to play for the tournament sponsors and honor Gearold Ledsome. We even had two former PGA professionals, Lawton Harrison of Frederickburg and M.C. Yocham of Cleburne, playing in the tournament,” stated Lowery.

Last weekend, The Hideout hosted two tournaments. The Gearold Ledsome
Invitational was played in conjunction with, but separate from the Texas Amputee Golf Championship. Josh Tankersley from Fort Worth was the overall winner of the amputee tournament. Despite extremely wet conditions, Tankersley (a leg amputee) fired a two-day total of 163.
“At The Hideout, we felt honored to be a part of this event, and I want to point out that it was the financial backing from the sponsors that made all of this possible,” said Lowery.
The 2017 sponsors were Visit Early, Visit Often; Buckmasters, VFW Post 3278, Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce, Big Country Ford, Underwoods, Western Bank, Jacobs Pharmacy, Weakley-Watson, Mills County State Bank, Mike Burns, Original Art by John LaCourse, Head-to-Toe Grooming and Benefit Planning Services.