Golfers chip on for tournament

ST. REGIS – Golfers and businesses alike flocked to the Trestle Creek Golf Course in St. Regis for the annual golf tournament.

This year the same amount of teams showed up with 13 in all.

According to Chairperson Anita Bailey, 19 businesses sponsored the event, donating prizes and sponsoring tee signs. Businesses from Mineral County, as well as Plains and Missoula donated to the event.

“It was a real community event,” Bailey said. “It gave businesses a chance to promote their business at the same time donating to the chamber of commerce, which in turn promotes our businesses.”

Each team had four people and the top golfers were awarded prizes. This year two awards went out, one for the lowest gross score and one for the lowest net score, which took into account handicaps of inexperienced golfers.

Gavin-Hanks Architecture/Eclipse Engineering took first place for gross points, while Hagedorn Land Surveyors from Thompson Falls and Trestle Creek Golf Course tied and took second.

For net scores, Wells Fargo Bank took first place, while Ordelheide Dentist took second place.

In Bailey’s first year as chairperson, the event went smoothly without a hitch. Planning began three months in advance for the highly anticipated tournament, and the chamber of commerce began networking in order to get business sponsorships.

This year started earlier than in previous years, with the event kicking of at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 14. The annual putting contest was also held at the beginning of the event, instead of towards the end.

The participants had a chance to get a hole-in-one and if they were successful, they would have received $5,000. This year no one was able to maneuver the 50-foot put into the hole. However, Stan Bailey from Olympia, Wash. did win a golf bag during the competition.

Prizes varied widely and were awarded for a handful of different categories. Nine different hole prizes were handed out for the longest putt and the longest drive, among others.

Along with a raft trip with an included lunch, free haircuts, rounds of golf and gift certificates were handed out.

“We have contributors to our golf tournament that we get from around the area, not just Mineral County,” Bailey said. “What it does is it gets people into their golf course next.”

The event serves as a fundraising activity for the Mineral County Chamber of Commerce. Numbers were still unknown, however in the past $4-5,000 was raised.

“We use that to pay our office expenses and our website expense. It also goes towards some of the events we host during the year for our whole county, which promotes our businesses,” Bailey said.

Although the rain came down in bucketfuls towards the end of the event, the cloudy weather was much appreciated before that.

“They were saying it was pretty nice out. Everyone seemed happy,” Bailey said.

Bailey appreciated all of the people who participated and donated to the event. George Bailey helped co-chair this year.