3/26/17
(Tumwater, WA) Tumwater Valley Golf Club will be hosting their 2nd annual OBEE Credit Union Junior Open on Sunday, April 23rd. The tournament is broken up into 6 groups, boys and girls 15-18, 12-14 and 8-11. There are also 3 divisions an 18-hole, 9-hole and 3-hole tournament.
ESN talked with Operations Manager Dave Nickerson who says last year in their 1st tournament they had about 45 total golfers and they would like to at least double the participation this year. He says they offer the 3 divisions of 3, 9 and 18 holes to encourage younger golfers just beginning or those that have never played in a tournament to come out and give it a try. Nickerson says there were 6 golfers for the 3-hole event last year. The 9-hole event was aimed at the more experienced younger golfer but aren’t quite ready for a full 18-hole round. The 9-hole tournaments drew about 15 golfers and the remainder were all in the 18-hole tournament.
Nickerson says the tournament is a great opportunity for High School golfers to get a taste of tournament competition. Nickerson says this is much like many of the Winter Break Basketball Tournaments that allow teams to get some tournament experience prior to the High School post-season tournaments. In high school golf the sport is split where many boys teams play in the Fall and they already have qualified their players to the State Tournaments while other schools are playing both boys and girls golf in the Spring and their District or qualifying tournaments are still to come.
Nickerson says holding this tournament on a Sunday it doesn’t interfere with other sports. It is common to have a golfer who qualified for State in the Fall now playing another Spring sport. The Junior Open is a great opportunity to get in at least one significant round of golf prior to having to tee it up later in May at State. Nickerson would love to see golf teams use this tournament as a team practice session as well and who knows in the future a team category could be added. Nickerson encourages golf coaches with multiple players to contact them if they are interested in playing in the OBEE Junior Open.
Registration remains open for all kids 8-18 and you can get more information at www.tumwatervalleygc.com or here is a link to the registration page: http://cdn.cybergolf.com/images/653/Junior-Golf-OpenReg_2017.pdf
There will be medals and prizes and the cost is $60 for 18 holes, $40 for the 9-hole tournament and $20 for the beginner 3-hole event. Scholarships may be available through the First Tee of South Puget Sound.
More Information:
360-943-9500
www.elisportsnetwork.com
