By Mark Wehrman EBS Contributor
As we wrap up another great season of golf at Big Sky Golf Course, I wanted to recap some of the highlights of our season. May and June started off very slow, with lots of cold weather and moisture. Once July hit, though, the weather turned to summer, literally in a day, and our season came into full swing.
On July 4, we had another successful Firecracker Open with a full field of 30 foursomes. With no break in the action, we moved right in to our biggest tournament of the year, the 17th annual Big Brothers Big Sisters Celebrity Golf Tournament. We had a record-setting field size with 33 fivesomes. The tournament was a huge success, once again, raising thousands of dollars for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.
After a couple of weeks of business as usual, we moved into August with a heavy tournament schedule for the last two months of our season.
We started August with the Hawaiian Open and two weeks later we had our club championship, the Big Sky Open.
One week after crowning the men’s and women’s club champions, we hosted, for the first time ever in the state of Montana, the American Junior Golf Association. Over Labor Day weekend, 80 of the best junior golfers in the world walked the grounds of Big Sky Golf Course, attempting to earn a college golf scholarship.
The level of play was like watching a tour event and with perfect weather the entire weekend, it was a tournament to remember. We’re still looking for a major sponsor for this event and if we can solve that last piece of the puzzle, the Big Sky community can look forward to watching that level of golfing talent each year going forward.
Moving into September, golf stayed very busy with the Montana Stock Growers holding their annual T-Bone classic along with the West Yellowstone Ski Education Foundation benefit the first week of September.
The following week, we hosted the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce fundraiser tournament with a record 31 foursomes competing for the winning prize of $2,000. We rounded out September with the IceHouse Open, a fundraising scramble for the Big Sky Skating and Hockey Association on Sept. 22. Finishing out the month, and also the season, is the annual Oktoberfest Ironman Open, which is always played on the last Saturday of the season.
So, with all of these tournaments, it was a busy summer at Big Sky Golf Course. We’re already thinking of the 2019 summer golf season and plan to keep all of these events on our schedule, with room to add more.
If you have any questions about these tournaments, or anything golf related, I’m always available and never get tired of talking and thinking about golf, even in the off-season. I hope everyone has a safe and fun winter on the mountain and I look forward to seeing you all at Big Sky Golf Course next spring!
Mark Wehrman is the PGA Head Professional at the Big Sky Golf Course.
