Former players raise money for Burnet County resident Jerry Watson scholarship
The kids who played for Jerry Watson — who are all grown up with careers and some with families of their own — gathered to honor a man whose influence continues to impact them today.
Sixty golfers converged at Hidden Falls Golf Club July 22 to play in The Inaugural Jerry Watson Meadowlakes Classic, choosing to combine two of Watson’s passions: sports and a deep desire to help children be the best they can be.
Proceeds from the event will be used to fund a scholarship in Watson’s memory. Watson, who died Jan. 4, 2021, was well known for supporting Marble Falls youth.
“It’ll probably be an annual thing going forward,” said Ben Stripling, one of the organizers. “Most of the guys had a blast doing it. We’re already looking forward to doing it again next year.”
Watson, a Meadowlakes resident, was a beloved youth coach, known to walk the sidelines of the football field and basketball court and stand in the third-base box on the baseball diamond. He was especially close to many of the Marble Falls graduates from the 2009-2019 classes and knew those members well because of his sons Jay and J.T. Jerry’s daughter Jenna, who was a member of the Marble Falls High School cheer squad, recently graduated.
Other tournament organizers included Mike Stripling and Jay and J.T. Watson. The tournament was divided into groups of four totaling 15 teams for a four-man scramble.
A climatic two-team, two-hole playoff was used to determine the winning team. That team consisted of Joey Blackledge, Hunter Dooley, Kolton Hurst and Jay Watson, Finishing as the runner-up was the team of Austin Huff, Blayne Parisher, Zeph Sawyer and Blake Thompson. Finishing third was the team of Conan Boyle, Collin Edwards, Derrick Steffek and Cole Wilson. Dooley also won longest drive contest.
Ben Stripling noted Blackledge, Dooley, Hurst and Watson shot 12-under-par. He explained how the teams were assembled.
“We tried to keep the teams even by taking into account everyone’s handicap,” he said. “The scoreboard was pretty tight. We had a lot of teams that shot well.”
Stripling noted the competition was great and being back among friends was incredible. It gave them all a chance to catch up and exchange their favorites stories about each other and Jerry.
“Seventy percent of the field were Marble Falls High School graduates,” he said. “The rest were from the surrounding area, Austin, Dallas and Houston. We came up with the idea in March. It started off as just 10-20 guys. As word got out and people started to hear about it, they wanted to join in. I would say probably about half the field played for Jerry.”
It didn’t take Stripling long what Jerry meant to them.
“Jerry was one of those likeable guys in the community,” he said. “He trained the guys in Marble Falls. They received some uplifting and encouraging advice from Jerry. When I think about Jerry, I think about the positivity and joy he spread. He used to do the announcing at the basketball games. He’d call out the starting line-ups. He was hilarious on the mic. I think of how much love and positivity he poured out to the entire community. He coached a lot of the guys. He shared his knowledge with us.”
Stripling, who said “basketball was my thing,” recalled Watson telling him to shoot the ball more.
“Be confident in doing that,” he recalled hearing. “He instilled confidence to shoot the 3-ball more and drive to the basket.”
As he reflected on a wonderful weekend, he thought about Jerry’s reaction to the event.
“I think it’s perfectly fine with Jerry,” he said. “We raised money for a scholarship in his name because of his love for kids in the community and helping kids get to college from Marble Falls. I think it’s also great we did it through a golf tournament and sports, which was really one of his passions. He’d be extremely proud. It’s perfectly fitting for us to do that for him.”
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