Maidstone – Only at the Maidstone Heavy Crude Men’s Golf Tournament can your entry be drawn to for a chance to win $500 on your first shot of the day.
The popular chip-for-dough where 10 chosen players will once again crank up the fun dial to start this year’s 26th annual tournament to be played at the 9-hole Silver Lake Golf Club on June 5.
The starting contest, the laid back match play format for teams of four, and the pre-event steak barbecue led to an early sellout this year with 72 players in 18 flights.
“We’re already on the waiting list, so it should be a good turnout again,” said Jeff Watt who heads the organizing committee.
“It’s a popular event. It’s easy going and it’s a good bang for your buck for most guys.”
The event includes two nine-hole matches, sponsored beer holes, hole prizes and door prizes. The entry fee is $150 per player.
“Everybody seems to have fun. It’s nothing too strenuous or too stressful, so it usually goes pretty smooth,” added Watt.
This year’s tournament could be played in much dryer conditions than on previous occasions, but don’t take Watt’s word on it.
When contacted on May 13, Watt joked that he’s not much of a golfer and hadn’t been on the course yet.
“I hit two golf balls all last year,” he said, but he knows it’s been playable since it reopened for the season.
“As soon as they opened up, they pulled the tarps off – they were on them right away. Everything is bright green out and it’s looking really good,” he reported.
“This year is really dry. We’ve barely had any rain this year. Hopefully, they get a little bit of rain before the tournament. It will green things up again. Other than that, we should be good to go.”
Watt is the operations manager at TWB Construction in Maidstone where the downturn has made it harder to nail down event sponsorships this year.
“We’re still trying to round up some sponsorships, but it should run on the level,” said Watt who noted business is slow for everyone including his own company.
“We’re like everybody else. Everything’s slowed down. We’re probably down 70 per cent, but it is what it is on this turndown, so we’ll ride it out.
As for generating prize donations he said, “They’re down a little bit, but normally we do a progressive draw for prizes.
“If we don’t pull it this year, we are not too worried. Everybody is pretty understanding, but we’ll do the best we can.”
On the plus side, he said with all this idle time in the oilfield more golfers were available to get their entries in early.
“Everybody’s a little slower. They are only working eight hours rather than 12 hour days so it’s a little easier to get into (the tournament) this year,” he said.
