Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Weather plays role, but doesn't stop tournament

One hundred, fifty-five amateur golfers from as far south as Warren, and as far north Little Rock packed into the Nevada County Country Club to participate in the annual Prescott three-man scramble tournament.

Id say its been going on for at least 35 years, said assistant tournament director, Ricky Reddin. Its done every year in July on this weekend.

Like past tournaments, this years competition began bright and early on Saturday morning and ran through Sunday night. The tournament features five flights or rounds throughout the two days. While many golfers rise with the sun to tee-off at 8:00 a.m., the more advanced golfers usually start swinging their clubs at 1:00 p.m.

Although the early crowd tends to play for more fun than competition, they had another handicap to combat.

The weather was definitely not our friend, but the tournament went really well, tournament coordinator, Vince Grimes said. It wasnt the best, but we made it work. Were really happy with how it turned out.

Since, the Nevada County country club is not owned by an individual person, the money collected at the tournament went towards the general up-keep and finance of the course and bar. Members of the country club are comprised of mostly amateur golfers, with all being residents of Nevada County.

Yeah we dont run a monopoly down here, local golf instructor and semi-pro golfer, Ricky Ranga said. When everybody pitches in, the effort is a lot less on a particular individual and the outcome is usually more successful and beneficial for the entire crowd.

Ranga, who instructs golf at Prescott High School, was very familiar with a lot of the golfers and expects sportsmanship and competition at every tournament.

Im related to a bunch of these players, Ranga said. But if there is one thing you will see, it is some pretty good golf and a real good time.

The tournament coordinators have tried to steer away from changes in the overall tournament. A standard that holds true even today.

Weve got pretty good tradition, Grimes said. Its just a continuation from years past, that everybody enjoys coming down to play in our tournaments.

For information on playing in next years tournament, contact Ricky Ranga at 870 826-0014.