April 28, 2010
GREENSBORO, Ga. – While the championship trophy eluded their grasp, Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson and former basketball standout Will Perdue left the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge with more than $20,000 in scholarships and one huge individual prize for the Commodore football mentor.
Johnson, representing Vanderbilt Athletics with Perdue for the second consecutive year, claimed the coaches’ long drive contest, topping 11 other coaches from the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern Conferences with an effort that carried 275 yards.
“The best thing about winning the (long drive) contest was the $5,000 scholarship that goes to our program,” Johnson said.
Johnson and Perdue didn’t fare as well in the tournament, finishing tied for sixth with a score of 73. The 1-over total netted $17,500 in scholarships to the school.
“This is such an enjoyable outing,” Johnson said. “I can’t tell you what a great job Chick-fil-A, the resort and the event organizer do with this tournament.
“Will and I played better this time than last, and we had a lot of fun doing it. Will is such a great guy and tremendous representative for our university,” Johnson added.
Playing one of Georgia’s premier resort courses at Reynolds Plantation outside Atlanta, the Commodore duo got off to a troublesome start to the round, making a quadruple 8 on the second hole.
“Two holes in and we’re four strokes down to (Wake Forest) coach (Jim) Grobe and his partner (Billy Packer),” Johnson said. “After that, we played pretty well, and eventually finished in a tie with them.
“We actually got it to 1-under, but both of us hit in the water at the par-3 17th. Everything considered, it was fantastic day,” the coach added.
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher and former `Noles defensive back Terrell Buckley combined to shoot a seven-under-par 65 to win the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge, holding off the charging Georgia Tech team of coach Paul Johnson and former hoops star Jon Barry.
The Seminole team took home $120,000 in scholarship donations for FSU in their winning effort. In total, the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge contributed $400,000 in scholarship money to the 12 universities that competed, including $22,500 to Vanderbilt.
“We really had a spectacular day on the golf course today and this incredible group of coaches and celebrities represented their universities in a first-class way,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “But the privilege was all ours in being able to give so much back to these great schools and great competitors.”
The final standings and scholarship winnings were as follows:
Team… Score… Winnings
Florida State: Jimbo Fisher/Terrell Buckley, -7, $120,000
Georgia Tech: Paul Johnson/Jon Barry, -6, $60,000
South Carolina: Steve Spurrier/Sterling Sharpe, -5, $50,000
North Carolina: Butch Davis/Natrone Means, -4, $40,000
N.C. State: Sidney Lowe/Monte Towe, -2, $30,000
Vanderbilt: Bobby Johnson/Will Perdue, +1, $22,500
Alabama: Nick Saban/Steve Sloan, +1, $17,500
Maryland: Ralph Friedgen/Stan Gelbaugh, +1, $17,500
Wake Forest: Jim Grobe/Billy Packer, +1, $17,500
Ole Miss: Houston Nutt/Wesley Walls, +2, $10,000
Clemson: Dabo Swinney/Dwight Clark, +3, $10,000
Virginia Tech: Frank Beamer/Brad Clontz, +4, $10,000
The tournament was taped by ESPN for broadcast in the fall. The date of the broadcast will be announced this summer.