2025 Sky Valley “BIG Champion of the Year William Hackett”

The 2025 BIG returned to the magnificent Sky Valley Golf Resort nestled in the Northeast Georgia mountains. A full twenty participant field attended. The “who’s who of golf” players list included Larry Alligood, DocPaul Belliveau, Bob Chance, Scott DePiazza, Fred Evans, Chris and Paul Graham, William Hackett, Bates Harrison, Brian Hart, Kailash Khandke, Tony LoCascio, Bobby Magee, Woodrow Matthews, Rick and Ryan Marshall, CuzMike O’Meara (no relation to Mark), Darrell and Tony Vaughn. The 2025 BIG also welcomed back a very happy and healthy Brian Shenk into the fold! Was great to have him back, for sure! There was a BIG void left in this year’s weekend agenda however as the pink teddy fashion show had to be cancelled due to a lack of newbies, darn the luck! Also noted, Steveoh Cranford and Charlie “Shakey Earl” Griffin were both present in spirit and were the topic of much reminiscing…miss you guys!

On to the action! Day 1 kicked off with the annual Defending Champion Opening Tee Shot. 2024 BIG Stogey winner Darrell Vaughn showed off his deadly championship winning accuracy as it only took him 2 pink balls and a yellow ball to finally stripe one down the center of the fairway, and with that, the official event commenced! A pristine, yet wet and soggy Sky Valley course certainly served notice it was not to be taken lightly, showing it’s championship caliber teeth to the tune of a mere 6 of 20 competitors (a paltry 30%) exceeding their points quota. This trend was maintained throughout the weekend (in stark contrast to the trend observed during the 2021 BIG event held here where 11 of 19 (58%) participants averaged on the positive side of the ledger). Day 1 leader with an excellent +5 round was long ball hitting Edisto legend…William “the Mackeral” Hackett. At his post round interview, Hackett predicted that if the course maintained it’s wet and soggy conditions, the lack of roll would play perfectly into his high, long ball flight (truer words never spoke). Nipping closely on William’s heels was another long high ball hitter, none other than two-time BIG Champ Tony “the Tiger” Vaughn who posted a stellar +3 score. Rounding out the Day 1 podium was the 175 yard baby fade hitting two-time BIG champ Commish Crissy Graham, who was recovering from a lower back injury but somehow found the short game magic to dial up a stealth +2 score.

Day 2 greeted the BIG competitors with some very concerning news. Seems the Vaughn house had a very busy night as Larry Alligood was having medical issues and had to be ambulanced to the ER an hour plus away due to shortness of breath and elevated heart rate issues. Needless to say, the focus of many at tee time was not on golf, but on their fallen brother. Brian Hart led a prayer vigil for our friend and the great Spirit must have been listening as reports came out a few hours later that the condition was most likely exasperated by allergies and dehydration, and that all indication were that our brother was going to be ok. (And ok he was as Lair-bear joined us that afternoon for the highly anticipated giggle golf! Thanks for the scare Lair, and damn glad things were not as grave as they seemed only hours earlier!)

Day 2 scores reflected the concern as only 3 players managed to go positive on the points for the round, led by DocPaul with a sizzling +4, followed by tie for second between first round leader William Hackett and Brian ‘The Lion” Hart at +2 each. With the plus 2 William was able to extend his lead to 4 points thru two rounds with a sterling +7 point total. This certainly set him up for making history as only the SECOND wire to wire winner ever in a BIG Stogey Tournament (Commish Crissy at Edisto in 2019)!

With brother Larry rejoicefully back into the fold, Round 3 commenced on time at 9AM with windy and chilly conditions. The course continued to the trend of playing long and wet thanks in part to late night showers, and as would be expected in conditions like this on a championship course with wide fairways, it was of little surprise that the feature group consisted entirely of the longer drivers in the BIG field: the leader William Thunder Hackett (+7) followed by Tony “the bomber” Vaughn (+3) and Woody “the bullet train” Matthews (+3) along with the sneaky long and short game lethal former BIG champ Brian the Lion Hart (+1). They were the only competitors to have survived the first two round on the plus side of the ledger heading into the final round (yes – a BIG record low). The final round was a back and forth affair amongst the leaders, as the Lion made his move and quickly closed the 6 point gap, over taking the slow starting Woody and the cold putting Tony deep into the final 9 holes. The BIG Stogey came down to the final hole and an ill-fated decision by Brian. Instead on knowing exactly where the competitors stood going to the final few holes, for some inexplicably odd reason none of the feature group competitors knew or wanted to know exactly where they stood at on the leaderboard. 18 tee saw Brian hit a solid drive on the homeward hole but with no roll he was around 180 yards out and staring down at a tightly tucked front pin location a mere 10 yards beyond the creek fronting the final hole. Thinking he was trailing and having to make something special happen to wrestle the BIG Stogey from Hackett’s hands, the Lion went for broke. His 5-wood was slightly tugged and unfortunately found the water to the left of the green, a very costly error as unbeknownst to Brian, he was actually TIED for the lead at the time. Hart dropped his third near the penalty area and hit his fourth shot to about 15 feet with a slim chance to save a point. His well struck putt slid by the cup for zero points. At the post game presser, Hart was asked about his decision to not know where he stood on the leaderboard. All he could say was that in hindsight, it was a pretty dumb decision. Oh well, go get em’ next year Brian, you are a class act on and off the course, my friend!

Hackett on the other hand hit another massive drive. He connected solidly on his second shot with a short iron in his hand, and safely sent his ball over the hazard right and long of the green. This left him with a very awkward downhill-sidehill chip shot, which he executed masterfully with and incredible flop shot that landed on the downslope like a butterfly with bad ankles, and trundled slowly to within 10 feet of the hole. Under the intense pressure at the time, it was an incredible shot! From there he was able to two-putt for a point to WIN BY ONE! What a great finish to a great weekend of golf. Congrats William Hackett, 2025 BIG Stogey Champ and second WIRE TO WIRE WINNER in BIG history!

At the awards presentation, the long ball hitter trend continued as Doc Paul won round of the day with a stellar +5 round of 76, followed by sneaky long Brian Hart and Bob Chance (who smartly elected to take the additional two points and move up to the red tees to counter the distance disparity) in a two way tie for second place money at +4. Ryan Marshall presented the “My game was as dead as this Prez” one-dollar bill prize and the “while you’re in there see if you can find my game” Toilet Bowl trophy to the infamous Bobby Magee for his stellar -18 point performance. He edged out 2024 champ Darrell by a single negative point. Well played, Bobby! Commish Crissy then presented the first loser cash prize (2nd Place Overall) to Brian Hart, who played some exceptional golf for 3 days. Then it was time for 2024 champ Darrell Vaughn to present the BIG Stogey to a very excited and proud first time winner William Hackett. What a great tournament you played, congrats brother Hackett!

The awards festivities concluded with 2024 Griffin Spirit of the Big recipient Bob Chance giving a riveting speech about what the BIG meant to him, what a positive impact Charlie had on the building of the BIG brotherhood , what wonderful breakfasts SHakey could whip up, and then went on to share a hilarious story about how he got invited to join the BIG. Unbeknownst to many including the commish, our boi’ KK invited his Furman counterpart Bob to the BIG to replace a huge LSU fan (2015 BIG Champ Stevie Ray) that had been excused from the brotherhood due to personal conflicts, and that in Steve’s memory, Bob would have to show up to honor him dressed in full LSU team gear. Being the amicable fellow that Bob has shown us all he is, he gladly obliged and showed up in a loud purple sporty LSU Tigah golf shirt, a LSU purple and gold hat, and the loudest ugliest gold yellow shorts one would hope to never see! When I first saw Bob at the BIG that year, all I could think was, “oh jeez – here we go again!” But by the end of that first BIG with Bob, we all knew, he belonged in the BIG, and what a classy member he has been. That being said I must admit, for all these years, I had no idea that he had been pranked by his best friend KK! I actually thought he like LSU! Touche, KK! You sneaky rat bahstahd, well played!!! But back to the Griffin Spirit of the BIG award, long story short, Bob selected our esteemed Food Czar KK, not because they are really good friends, but because of everything KK has done and continues to do to assist in the running the BIG tournament. KK, you are certainly a most worthy winner of the coveted cup and I know our boi’ Charlie is so proud of the choice! Words cannot express how awesome it has been to have the burden of the Food Czar off my to do list…you have done an incredible job with it. Thanks my friend! Congrats to Kailash Khandke, 2025 Griffin Cup recipient!

Unfortunately we had another close call the final night of the BIG as our brother Freddy Evans, probably inebriated by all the non-alcoholic drinks he had with dinner, was walking back to his accommodations with Darrell and Larry after the awards ceremony with cup in one hand and phone in the other, stumbled on a dip in the asphalt, lost his balance, fell and busted his ribs up pretty bad. Good news was the he saved the cup and the phone! Bad news was he was unable to join us for the Sunday Captains Choice due to the injury and last I talked to him, he was still very sore. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done for cracked ribs, I wish you a full recovery my brother. In the immortal words of Judge Judy these words come to mind…as an older person if you want to live a long life…DON’T FALL! Truer word never spoke, right Freddy?

In closing, every BIG seems to have a “Ahhh Ha” moment. 2025 did not disappoint. Starting the 3rd round with 4 fireball shots and a beer, Bates Harrison tells playing partner Doc that he thinks he might be a little drunk on hole #6. He plods his way around the course pretty much unscathed until the group arrives at the infamous hole 12, the scenic downhill tight dogleg right par 4 that is guarded by a creek in front. Doc hits a solid drive around the corner ending up just short of the creek. Bates hits his ball to the right hugging the tree line. He hits first and bounces the ball into the creek. Doc is on the cart path and Bates starts walking towards the creek on the opposite side of the fairway in an effort to find his ball. Doc hits his 2nd shot and walks back to the cart and starts driving slowly down the cart path Bates gets to the creek and is looking for his ball. He spots it in the creek and decides it best to lay down on the ground an attempt to reach into the creek to retrieve it. The next thing Doc sees is our boi’ Bates all but disappearing as he slides down the creek bank. The way Doc tells it, he looks around wondering where the hail Bates disappeared to and sees 2 feet sticking out of the water and up into the air, the rest of Bates is submerged into the creek! Doc didn’t know whether to laugh or be concerned for Bate’s safety so he starts to run towards Bates, just in case aid was required. Alas, Bates stands up and is wiping his shirt and then his face. There is a look of total bewilderment on his face, obviously!!! After the laughter subsides and the hole is completed, the group is riding to the next hole. That was when Bates had a moment of clarity as he says in his calmest voice, sitting there soaking wet…”actually that was pretty refreshing”. Some things at the BIG you just can’t make up! Rumor has it Sky Valley has renamed the water fronting #12 “Bates Creek”!