The Mayor’s Cup trophy will call the Country Club of Orangeburg home for a second consecutive year.

CCO defeated Hillcrest Golf Club 21-19 Sunday in the 12th installment of the Coca Cola Mayor’s Cup.

"That’s a good surprise," said CCO Club Pro David Lackey about the prospect of seeing the cup every day in his clubhouse for another year. It was the first time in the history of the Mayor’s Cup that CCO has successfully defended the cup.

CCO officially retained the cup when Bob Varn defeated Steve Horton in a battle of the club’s respective club champions. Over the two-day event there were a total of 40 points up for grabs, 20 for each day.

Going into Sunday, CCO used their home field advantage to establish a 11.5-8.5 lead over Hillcrest where 2-person teams played captain’s choice. The final round of the Mayor’s Cup was individual match play.

Lackey credited the team coming together and collectively playing well throughout the matches as the reason for escaping an incredibly close battle with Hillcrest. Lackey noted that his team had a "never give up" attitude in each match. He cited Dicky Johnson battling back from 5 down to narrowly lose his match on the 18th to Hillcrest’s Tom Livingston as an example of that.

"It was a great team win, it was close. The final score overall dictates that," Lackey said.

Lackey also praised his captain for the last two cups, John Webber.

"He’s been the captain two years and we’ve won the cup two years," said Lackey.

Hillcrest Club Pro Jake Fogle was pleased by his team’s performance but said that CCO looked a little hungrier for victory this week.

"Our guys played well, but we simply didn’t play well enough," Fogle said.

This is uncharted territory for Hillcrest, at one point holders of the cup from 2001-2005, which for the first time in the rivalry will not have the cup for consecutive years. Fogle is confident that the ship can be steered back toward the winning direction.

"We know what we’ve got to do, play better next year," Fogle said.

Orangeburg Mayor Paul Miller was on hand and led the tournament off with his honorary group. Saturday’s Mayor’s Team was composed of Frank Tourville, John Worley, Gregory McCord and Dr. George Bradley. Sunday’s group featured Walter Byrant, Buddy Pough, Wendell Davis and Bill Thomas.

Miller said his performance dropped off a little on Sunday.

"The greens were trickier," Miller said about the Hillcrest layout.

Miller noted that the event has come a long way since its inception and thanked Coca-Cola for sponsoring the event. He recalled that during the tournament’s first years it was played in November and players had to wear jackets. That was a far cry from Sunday’s final round, where the temperature was 86 degrees and many players were wearing shorts. Miller said he preferred the September date on which the event is now played.

"I’m glad they did that," he said. Miller said the event will only continue to prosper.

"It’s a super great event for the community, it brings our golfers together, looking forward to continuing it in the future," Miller said.

CCO’s win is their fourth in the event, which Hillcrest leads 7-4-1.

Results from the final round of the Mayor’s Cup:

Bob Varn (CCO) over Steve Horton (Hillcrest)

Edward Johnson (Hillcrest) over Holley Wallace (CCO)

Lamont Green (Hillcrest) over Holley Wallace (CCO)

Jess Griffith (CCO) over Linister Burgress (Hillcrest)

Matthew Bolin (Hillcrest) over Harry Mims III (CCO)

Randy Shuler (Hillcrest) over Marion Moore (CCO)

Jerry Frick (Hillcrest) over Brian Coates (CCO)

Chesley Hunter (CCO) over Mark Easterling (Hillcrest)

Coleman Farr (CCO) over Brett Banks (Hillcrest)

Denny Dukes (CCO) over Ricky Brown (Hillcrest)

Ray Craven (Hillcrest) over Stew Butler (CCO)

Bobby Wood (Hillcrest) over Jim Holliday (CCO)

John Weber (CCO) over Ricky Rickenbaker (Hillcrest)

Bob Jennings (CCO) over Tim Shuler (Hillcrest)

Robert Richardson (CCO) over Hassan Saheeb (Hillcrest)

Owen Bolin (Hillcrest) over Jerry Brock (CCO)

Frank Estes (Hillcrest) and Dewall Waters (CCO) tied

Spencer Dixon (CCO) over George Whitmore (Hillcrest)

Jake McGinnis (Hillcrest) over Rob Hibbits (CCO)

Tom Livingston (Hillcrest) over Dicky Johnson (CCO)

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